With the onset of Industrial Revolution 4.0, we’ve seen a paradigm shift in the way things are done. Now more than ever, new mobility has become more human-centric. New age players like Japanese mobility company FOMM (or ‘First One Mile Mobility’), are catching the pulse of the average commuter and coming up with solutions for some very real-world problems.
FOMM’s CEO, Hideo Tsurumaki, took some time to speak to Auto Futures about how the company brought to life a bold mobility solution to save lives during floods.
“FOMM was established with the idea of creating a car that protects human lives from flood disaster.” he told us.
“In Japan, many people lost their lives due to the tsunami caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. At that time, many people were killed in the car, such as a car that was submerged, a car that got stuck due to flooding, so there was a discussion that ‘when a flood occurs, you should not escape with a car’. However, the elderly and people with disabilities need means of evacuation.”
FOMM started the development of an electric vehicle that floats on water in 2013.
Tsurumaki says FOMM now takes a holistic approach to manufacturing. “Our products are based on the concept of creating more comfortable short distance movement. Furthermore, we design our products with the idea of smaller and lighter in order to reduce CO2 in life cycle from manufacturing, use and to disposal, and we are also actively working on global environment conservation.
“We started the mass production of FOMM ONE in Thailand and sales of the first product in April 2019, and now we have received orders for over 2,000 units. Our mass production plant of FOMM ONE is located in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate, Chonburi, Thailand which is capable to produce 10,000 units per year with a building of 5,000 ㎡ in a site of 12,000 ㎡.”
FOMM ONE is the company’s small electric vehicle designed following the European L7e vehicle standard. Despite its compact body with a total length of 2,585 mm, a width of 1,295 mm, and a height of 1,550 mm, the vehicle has the capacity to seat four adults and can travel 166 km (NEDC) on a single charge.
It also has an exchangeable battery feature in addition to normal charging, which realizes a “simple exchange system” that can easily replace the four small cassette type batteries in about 10 minutes. This feature eliminates the user’s anxiety about cruising range and battery deterioration.
“The most distinctive feature that always gets a lot of attention from people is the ‘Float Drive’ function that was developed as a measure against flooding,” says Tsurumaki.
“Equipped with a bathtub-shaped part called BOAT inside the car body, it floats like a boat when immersed in water up to a certain water level. Additionally, its fin-shape wheels enable it to move at low speed on the water surface by discharging the water sucked in toward the rear of the wheels with a mechanism like a turbine.”
According to Tsurumaki, other than the Float-Drive functionality, FOMM ONE has four other distinctive technologies – Steering Accelerator System, In-Wheel Motor System, Swapping Battery System and Battery Cloud. But what distinguishes FOMM ONE from other mobility offerings is how its features have been defined to tackle issues.
For instance, if we were to take a look at its Steering Accelerator System, we’ll find that it is operated by the paddle type lever installed on the steering wheel.
“Nowadays, accidents occurring by misstep on brake-pedal and accelerator by elderly are increasing in Japan. Reducing the foot operation can eliminate such operational error and driving stress in small vehicles,” Tsurumaki notes.
Users can get fully charged batteries in about 10 minutes at a battery replacement stand.
Speaking about FOMM’s other endeavours, Tsurumaki added: “In parallel with FOMM ONE, we are in the process of planning and developing various other products. In addition to development of new types of electric vehicles, we are active in a wide range of fields, such as proposing services utilizing reused batteries and collaborating with local governments to exchange information.
“AWD Sports Concept and AWD Scooter Concept that were unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018 are concept models developed by applying the technology of FOMM ONE. Those demonstrate a technological concept that In-Wheel Motors equipped on all wheels improves driving performance and electricity efficiency, and also show the same batteries can be used on different vehicles by sharing.”
Apart from manufacturing EVs, FOMM also has a battery swapping facility, about which I wanted to know more.
“Battery Replacement Stand is a power supply infrastructure exclusively dedicated to FOMM ONE users as a part of Battery Cloud service. Users can get fully charged batteries in about 10 minutes at a battery replacement stand located in the city. This infrastructure service allows people who do not have charging facilities at home or who plan to drive longer distances than usual to use electric vehicles with confidence.
“This is still in the prototype stage, however, we are planning to start introducing this unique service in Thailand as an unprecedented new infrastructure service from next year,” explains Tsurumaki.
I asked Tsurumaki what the future looks like for FOMM and if the company had plans to expand their presence into other regions, to which he replied: “FOMM has already manufactured and sold FOMM ONE in Thailand, but we are planning to expand our business in various regions.
“Under the theme of localisation of automobile industry and optimisation of local production, we would like to develop ‘Micro-Fab’, a small-scale factory with small investment, small production volume, and small space to the world. In fact, we have received some inquiries from various regions such as ASEAN, Europe and Africa,” he concludes.
Keyword: Floating EVs And Human-Centric Innovations in The Mobility Space – Japan’s FOMM