Toyota's student-designed uBox concept is meant to appeal to Gen-Z buyers

Toyota has unveiled the uBox concept, which was designed by students at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research in South Carolina. Toyota and the University teamed up for two years to immerse students in every aspect of automotive development, with the end result being this box on wheels concept, creatively called the uBox.

Toyota uBox Concept

Toyota has unveiled the uBox concept, which was designed by students at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research in South Carolina. Toyota and the University teamed up for two years to immerse students in every aspect of automotive development, with the end result being this box on wheels concept, creatively called the uBox.
Toyota uBox Concept

The collaboration, called Deep Orange introduced the students in activities, like market research and design studies to engineering design and manufacturing.

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“Deep Orange gives students’ hands-on experience with the entire vehicle development process, from identifying the market opportunity through the vehicle build,” says Johnell Brooks, an associate professor in Clemson’s graduate engineering program. “It’s like automotive boot camp for the real world, and it wouldn’t happen without industry partners like Toyota.”

Toyota uBox Concept

The uBox concept is designed for a young entrepreneur that needs a bold, yet functional vehicle that will can hold bikes on the weekend, but convert into a mobile office during the week. It’s also powered by an all-electric powertrain. The students also created a unique pultrusion technique that allows composite carbon fiber rails bonded with aluminum to support a curved glass roof.

Toyota uBox Concept

“The roof pultrusion was something unexpected and very interesting when they first started talking about the concept,” said Toyota Executive Program Manager Craig Payne. “The fact that they were able to achieve an industry-first manufacturing technique as students speaks volumes for this program.”

Source: Toyota