Early in the decade, a self-selected group of Nissan employees from R&D, design and product planning backgrounds came together to explore the future of electric vehicles in a concept car that would become the first generation PIVO. Key members of this "Denki Group" (denki means electric in Japanese) were Inoue, Masahiko Tabe of Nissan's Advanced Vehicle Engineering Department, Tatsuya Shiosaki of Nissan's Exploratory and Advanced Product Department, and Hidetoshi Kadota, who would later become Chief Vehicle Engineer for Nissan LEAF. Inoue, Tabe and Shiosaki also joined hands to develop PIVO 2 and PIVO 3. Furthermore, Creative Box Inc. Nissan's advanced design studio located in Harajuku, Tokyo, has been involved in the design development stage of all PIVOs. Having most of the original team stay on through three generations of concept car development spanning more than five years is rare in the industry, and it reflects a unique tenacity brought forward through their sense of purpose.

The road from PIVO to PIVO 3
Each generation of PIVO has highlighted future lifestyle benefits from a slightly different angle.

The first generation PIVO showed how an EV can make city life easier, taking advantage of the layout freedom offered by an electric vehicle. .For example, in the planning stage, many ideas were suggested using by-wire technology. In the end, the group decided to take up the challenge of creating a rotating cabin. With its fully rotating cabin, this PIVO eliminated the need to reverse. The first-generation PIVO became a star attraction of the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, creating recognition for its development team and opening up access to company resources, including additional staff, that would sustain progress going forward to the next generation.

PIVO 2 pushed the envelope of by-wire technologies, demonstrating the benefits of in-wheel motors, which eliminate the need for axles and steering rack. This enables the four wheels to move independently. Thus, the car can even move sideways, in addition to cabin rotation. It makes parking much easier and can even change the center of gravity when cornering. Its front-opening door also permitted access in tight parking spaces. When turning, the wheels are rotated in the direction of the turn, keeping weight evenly distributed among all four wheels.

At that time, PIVO 2 took the first step from "car as tool" to "car as connection". A Robotic Agent serves as part of the human-machine interface (HMI), acting as a personal assistant and companion to the driver. Going much further than a standard GPS navigation system, it observes and interacts with the driver, delivering relevant information and commentary based on the driver's behavior and known preferences, as well as vehicle location and situation. Applying artificial intelligence technology, it also engages the driver's emotions to encourage a positive attitude and foster a feeling of attachment, like the bond you might feel with a young child riding in the same car.

PIVO 3 makes its debut nearly one year after the launch of Nissan LEAF, irrefutable evidence of Nissan's leadership - along with Alliance partner Renault - in the zero emission market and of the company's intent to transform the future of personal mobility. With Nissan LEAF as the historical EV sales leader proving electric vehicle viability on roads around the world, developers of the third generation PIVO could go on to make new points about what electric vehicles could offer beyond economical operation and conventional concepts of environmental friendliness.

At the same time, Nissan LEAFs presence in the real world made PIVO's developers feel that their next car needed to come closer to real-world feasibility and operability than its predecessors. If Nissan LEAF is the EV of today, then PIVO 3 should represent the benefits that an EV heralds for the near future.

In terms of communication, PIVO 2 was about building a relationship between car and driver. The driver talks with the Robotic Agent to help navigate the city. With PIVO 3, the car talks to the city. "It connects to energy sources, houses and public facilities through the cloud - it actually sends out its own information. It finds out where open parking spaces are, goes there, and charges all by itself", says Shiosaki. "It becomes embedded in the social infrastructure. So it contributes to both society and to the user. The car can give electricity to the grid that it has generated while driving. This can take the place of a parking fee. We are not just delivering a car, but a total mobility solution where you won't have to worry about battery charging and you will enjoy conveniences such as Automated Valet Parking (AVP)."

With AVP, parking lots can hold many more cars because the car doors never have to open while the vehicle is parked. Such dedicated parking lots would be equipped with wireless chargers and populated with mini EVs that people could use as needed - like an urban bicycle-sharing system. This would provide mobility in a casual and convenient new format while balancing electric power supply on the grid. Mobility becomes a service - always-on, ubiquitous and reliable. This is the kind of future that Nissan is working to achieve - one in which infrastructure and systems interact with EVs to create a zero emission society.

The first two PIVO generations allowed drivers to park in tiny spaces and switch directions without having to back out. However, a rotating cabin, despite its merits, would require major changes in vehicle platforms that would make it difficult to offer such a vehicle in the near future at an accessible price. It was therefore necessary to find a way to deliver the same level of convenience in a package that could be mass-produced cost effectively. "Most of the world's roads are at least four meters wide, so the challenge was to create a car that could make a U-turn within that width limitation," says Tabe. "This is basically possible if the body length is under two meters, but the body may scrape the curb when making such a sharp turn. The bottleneck was the rear wheels. Using three wheels would work but creates unacceptable restrictions on interior space and exterior styling. We used 3D simulation to find a solution." This persistence resulted in PIVO 3's distinctive 450 mm narrow-tread rear wheels.