You heard that right. Last month, Toyota issued a monumental press release that has made shockwaves in the auto industry. It may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but the auto giant has been working on developing a first-of-its-kind technology— hitchless towing.
While the work is still in its early stages, a functional product is not that far away and testing on public roads is on the horizon. How exactly does this technology work, and what does it mean for the RVing industry?
The concept behind hitchless towing
Paul Fanson, senior manager of Toyota Motor North America Research & Design’s Advanced Product Planning Office, stated that hitchless towing functions much like “follow the leader”. The lead vehicle would still be operated by a human driver, and the other vehicle (or trailer) being towed would closely mirror the lead vehicle’s movements. In a video published by Autoblog, (see far below) this concept is demonstrated at a testing facility.
For the time being, Toyota is only experimenting with the vehicle being towed a significant distance away—about two car lengths. As they hone the technology, this distance will be drastically shortened to reflect a typical towing situation. All this occurs with absolutely zero physical connection.
Future applications
Self-autonomous vehicles are here to stay, and we’re only at the cusp of their implementation. Toyota is attempting to get ahead of the curve and apply this technology to towing before its competitors. As our roads become fully occupied by driverless vehicles, hitchless towing may be a way to simplify navigation.
Picture this: Instead of every vehicle needing to independently navigate to its desired GPS coordinates, multiple cars can simply “latch on” to the car in front of it and mimic its actions. On long stretches of roads like highways, this could be very beneficial. Removing the independently operating nature of cars and creating an interconnected, hive-mind (shared intelligence) system of traffic could greatly reduce accidents. The idea is primitive and has decades of work ahead of it, but it’s very likely that this is the future of transportation.
Toyota didn’t comment much on using this technology for trailers, but it did acknowledge that they intend on making them self-propelled. Utilizing such technology would greatly reduce the hassle of a physical towing connection, but it raises many questions.
Questions and concerns remain unanswered
Progress is rarely all sunshine and rainbows, and there are some crucial considerations to make with this technology. It’s important to note that development is extremely early, and it’ll likely be years before we start seeing this being used in everyday life. Many details regarding the technology have yet to be announced. For example, what exactly is “connecting” the two vehicles? Is the tow vehicle simply utilizing sensors to copy the lead vehicle’s movements, or is wireless communication like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi being used?
Two cars playing “follow the leader” face far fewer conceptual problems. However, when it comes to towing a trailer, camper, or RV with no physical connection, some serious concerns arise:
- What happens if the digital connection is interrupted? Regardless of whether sensors or wireless technology is used, what happens if it fails? Will there be a rogue vehicle hurtling down the highway?
- In the case of wireless communication, is it secure? What steps will be taken to digitally secure the connection between the trailer and tow vehicle? If left vulnerable, a hacker could hypothetically hijack the towing connection, resulting in a highway pirate situation.
- Power and Propulsion: Proponents of this technology say that powerful, specialized trucks will no longer be needed to tow heavy trailers. Still, the trailer itself is going to require some sort of engine (fuel-based or electric). It also must be strong enough to match the velocity of the lead vehicle.
Would you ever consider hitchless towing for your trailer?
There’s no doubt that Toyota is at the forefront of automotive development. Still, it’s hard for skeptics not to be critical of their recent hitchless towing announcement. While this technology is much easier to picture when used between two cars for easy, self-autonomous navigation, utilizing it to haul a big travel trailer or fifth wheel seems far-fetched at best, and dangerous at worst.
Would you trust this technology to tow your RV?
##RVT1074b
Glad I’m still living to see all these new (ridiculous) innovations. This one seems very farfetched to me. But I am always amazed at all the new technology science and engineers imagine. What a crazy, interesting, amazing world we live in. Wonder if it will work with my 2001 Starcraft Tent trailer? Hahaha. Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s superman. Look down the road, it’s a phantom tent trailer wandering down the road all by itself !
Hive mind? Can you say “The Borg?”
The big question for me is, why?
The answer is because!
The perfect answer DW/ND!
So what happens when the driver goes through a yellow light which changes red before the “towed” trailer clears the intersection. Or the driver miscalculated the combined “length” of the separated vehicles when pulling into traffic. And it already interferes with the flow of traffic when a driver will sit at a stop sign seemingly waiting for a “mile” of clearance before pulling out, when there have already been multiple openings that could have been utilized to enter the traffic flow. The potential for traffic hindrance with Toyota’s “innovation” is immense. On the other hand, States that outlaw triple towing may have to consider a revision of their towing laws and safety chain laws!
Just what we need, more unmanned vehicles with more motors. Why “fix” something that isn’t broken.
I wrote a comment 20 minutes ago and I can’t find my comment. I said nothing offensive. All I said was the modern inventions engineers and scientists come up with these days amaze me. I’m glad I’m around to see all these amazing (ridiculous) inventions. I jokingly said in my first comment that I would be amazed someday to see my 2001 tent trailer meandering down the highway all by itself. A bit of sarcasm was all that original comment meant. I don’t understand why my first comment has been deleted. I still get a chuckle as I envision my aged tent trailer buzzing down the highway all by itself.
I see your other comment below. Maybe it took a bit to post or was being reviewed.
Sorry, Kris. It must have just been held up by the system for some reason. I just checked in the “history” of your previous comment and all it shows is that it was cleared at the time you submitted it. Maybe it was those danged gremlins again. 😆 But thank you for reading our newsletter(s), and thank you for your comments. Have a great day! 😀 –Diane
My concern is what happens if someone pulls in between the tow vehicle and the towed vehicle? Another is backing into a campsite or boat launch where the trailer toter must pull the trailer up a short steep grade.
No, I would not be interested in this technology.
I have been driving and towing for almost 60 years. I have always loved driving and I love towing our fiver. Where’s the fun in being carted around by an autonomous vehicle?
+1
+2
It’s a dream for me, there’s no point to me to guiding a vehicle down the road for hours. I would much rather read, watch a movie, work on the computer or just sleep while a machine does the work.
Unlike the RV manufacturers, Toyota always does thorough testing and research before releasing any product. This concept is ‘interesting’ but, knowing how Toyota operates, I doubt anyone will see it for quite some time.
So how is it going to back into a site?
The first realistic ‘anti’ comment I’ve read. Presumably it would require on ground sensors to guide it into pre-determined spaces (driveways, campsites etc) but random reversing would be a difficult situation. For boondocking spots it wouldn’t be hard to create some small beacons to put out to tell it where to go, they could be used at home as well rather than a permanent installation.
Perhaps Bob, for boondocking and dirt roads there could be (Gasp!) a human controlled work around for this.
And close to another commenter, the money it would take to make the necessary changes in highway dynamics would be mind boggling. They can’t even fix pot holes so us peons can navigate TODAY’S roads without destroying our cars and trucks.
They already have trucks that back trailers up for people that can’t do it. Vehicles that parallel park for people that can’t do it.
This technology is so Smart cars can “tow” a 36 foot trailer. Catering to the next smart phone generation.
We’ll here I go again, I’ll take exception to your statement that the second vehicle will “mirror” the action to the first or tow vehicle. If it mirrors the action it will do the opposite of the first vehicle. At my age I will never see this fiasco materialized. As you stated if this has no physical connection then it will be susceptible to hackers who will do devious things just for a laugh.
Agree…100%….I, also, thought the examp!e of mirroring was funny since it’s the opposite.
so your quibble is with the wording of the article rather than the concept, ridiculous.
Hi, Bob. Probably “mimic” would have been more accurate. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
I’m holding out for the Class A drone, with auto pilot.
I think it is cool to know that there are still dreamers and thinkers out there. New ideas and concepts need to start somewhere. Last time I checked, I’m using a heck of a lot of technology that probably seemed crazy when someone first conceived of it. And who knows, something like this might have a great industrial application and never make it to the public.
YES!
The first drivers of Model Ts caught a lot of flack and ridicule too, but look how far the concept of an automobile has come!
40 years ago we had “autonomous vehicles” at the IBM plant where I worked. They carried parts from the warehouse to the production floor and knew exactly where to go based on a scan of barcodes of the parts on them. They followed signals in the floor in lieu of GPS instructions that weren’t available back then.
Sometimes their brain got confused at which point they would simply stop with flashing lights and send out a continuous beeping…”help me…help me!” All the others coming down the isle/hallway also then had to stop.
I wonder what someone like Buttigieg is doing today to plan for the massive infrastructure changes and highway technologies that will be needed to enable these future technologies? Frankly, I can’t see them working too well without major standardization, embedded sensors in roadways sending conditions, closure info, etc. How about funding all that with declining and eventually no fossil fuel tax? Liability laws???
Surprised at the comments. This is a genius idea. Takes so much stress off the process and the towing vehicle. Great idea!
The ONLY way autonomous vehicles will work safely is if ALL vehicles are autonomous and communicate with each other thru 5G. No humans in control of anything. I want to be gone by that time!
Still lots of questions to answered and years of testing before something like this makes it out on the road. But to your question; no, I wouldn’t trust this technology for towing my RV.
My biggest concern isn’t the technology, but the human. As I am sure most tow drivers do, I drive differently when I am towing vs when I am not towing. Until we actually also get self-driving vehicles (that will take its cues from the following unit without the physical connection feedback) I don’t see this as practical.
As we move ahead with autonomous vehicles, I can see hitch-less towing being a real thing. Many things I boo-hooed in the past have come to reality. It will be many years, perhaps past my lifespan, but I see this as a reality.
What’s new here?
This has been promoted by some manufacturers for heavy trucks at least a decade ago – including the economical benefits of slipstreaming and giving the drivers of the following vehicles opportunity to rest.
However, they were not able to make the technology reliable (quick) enough to reduce the distance as much as expected. There was always room enough for cars to squeeze in and cause havoc in the convoy. Add in the legal problems still associated with autonomous vehicles and it’s sad clear, why they reduced their investment in this topic..
So Toyota is also testing flying cars. How’s that gonna work. Flying trailers? I wouldn’t even trust a robot to drive my class A. I think I have (control) issues. 🙂
That’s what I was thinking. And what about stability in winds and braking? The trailer will push that little tow vehicle right along…!
Of course it won’t, it can sense changes in separation in milliseconds and adjust.
What I mean is the physics of it. My TT weighed about 6,000 lbs. Say that little tow tractor weighs 1,000 lbs? 2,000 lbs? Even if the tow tractor has anti-lock brakes, the trailer has so much more mass than the tractor, that the stopping distances will be long. (At least that’s what I’d expect…)
Yes, that would have to be solved and physics is a determined opponent, presumably the trailer would do some of its own braking as they do now but wind effects are more difficult.
It’s a cool idea but I doubt I’ll be driving much less towing when this is perfected decades from now. Hope it works out for my grandchildren.
So now we’ll have 2 engines to keep charged or gassed up ?
Already do due to having to have a heavy duty truck for my fifth wheel and a car for normal use.
When do we see the part where they tow ?
All I see is a self driving car following another car.
Toyota thinking outside the box. I can see commercial application for this with EV powered tractor trucks, maybe from terminal to terminal. When it arrives a more conventional EV docks the trailer.
I doubt we will ever see this technology make it to the RV industry, but you never know.
At least someone is trying to be innovative. There seems to be a severe lack of that in today’s world lately.
The technology has been around for years. Any golfer has seen self-propelled golf bag carriers which follow the golfer around the course. Nothing to see here… 🙁
I didn’t know about THIS either!
Interesting comments. Mine is, “Some things shouldn’t be done just because it’s possble, and this application of the technology is probably one of them.” A short story that might get you thinking more clearly … I’m an amateur radio operator (Ham), and have a tranceiver installed in one of my vehicles, just like all public service vehicles do.
I can tune a certain frequency that instantly kills the engine, likely caused by interference getting into one of the many microprocessors in the engine control systems. What might happen if I was passing one of these tow setups on the highway, and coincidentally keyed my transmitter during the pass while talking to another ham? And, not just me … what about a Highway Patrol officer or ambulance passing one of these setups and talking to dispatch? Same issue! Yikes!
I didn’t know this! Excellent point!
Doesn’t make a lot of sense. That trailer has to have something to power it. If that’s the case put a window in the front and call it a motor home. Oh wait! We already have those. Many things like electric cars are being pushed on us too fast. Things that should be developed over the next 20-30 years are being pushed on us at a rate of the next two or three. The only way in the near future that I see for making a truck that can pull my trailer to the camp ground utilizing electricity is a hybrid truck. So when the juice is gone you kick over to gas. Something like that should work until they find a way to make the electricity last more than 100 miles. I guess they could use the hitch less towing to pull the extra battery along.
Are you kidding me? Have we become so weak-minded that we see added benefit in a strictly electrical attachment to towables traveling at highway speeds as opposed to a relatively simple physical one with millions of safe miles to its credit?
Google “Truck platooning”
No, not now. Also, no to autonomous vehicles. I flag traffic around construction sites. We close lanes and redirect traffic with cones, barrels, and manual control. No self driving car is yet programmed to respond to my hand signals or devices.
Your hand signals could easily be replaced by a wireless device that you use to direct autonomous vehicles.
Obvious solution, however nothing I have read from NHTSA and the related entities studying this issue have come up with a secure and safe way to issue those devices. And would they be passive read only or active communicators? And when the tow truck driver needs to extend into a lane, now he needs a 2nd party on scene to control the autonomous vehicles that don’t slow or move over for his flashing lights.
Still a huge NOPE to autonomous vehicles driving in the wild.
It’s nerve-racking enough to drive in the mountains but then the thought of worrying about losing connection to your tow vehicle, is crazy!
Just yesterday was driving through Waco and my wife had google giving directions. We were on an in-town 4 lane. It wanted us to turn left across the opposing lanes on a certain street. Problem: The divided road had a cement curb…no turning onto that street across oncoming traffic! Now…what will an autonomous vehicle try to do? Cross the curb? Freak out and stop in traffic?
In addition, many streets were temporarily closed due to the Iron Man competition. Google freaked out because of all the changes we needed to keep making and just spun. How is an autonomous vehicle going to handle a “confused” brain?
Who, in the future, is going to be liable for accidents? The autonomous vehicle owner or the manufacturer?
With the bandwidth that 5G (and future) wireless networks bring to the table, vehicles can communicate with each other. Also, those roads that were closed for the event, SHOULD HAVE been communicated by the city or the organizers to Google Maps to show that a reroute would be required. Other apps (Waze for example) allow drivers (passengers) to report when a road is closed for construction or events, right in the app.
I always find comments like yours odd. You point out the faults in the system, but don’t consider that engineers are already working on ways to overcome them. Look at aviation – we don’t fly prop driven DC3’s that navigate using signs painted on barn roofs anymore. We also are on the cusp of a revolution in general aviation with electric powered small planes, that rely on GPS systems. That technology will come to ground transport a lot faster than you think.
engineers took years to fine tune automation in aircraft. Electronics fail which is why we have quad redundancy and thousands of hours of testing to verify failure conditions. I have yet to see that in the automobile industry. also when a failure occurs, we spend maybe hundreds of hours figuring out why a part failed (especially if it failed prior to its predicted failure rate, which occurs often), auto industry does not test failed parts, just throws them away and puts in a new part. I would never, ever trust anything in the auto industry (espcially, chinese manufacture parts which fail quite frequently).
It would help with EV range while “towing”, once it can keep up with the leader and stay maybe 2 feet from it’s rear bumper. If it’s not that close someone will try to get into the gap.
My thoughts exactly!
No thanks. What happens in a panic stop?
I am not a hive driver…
the ‘hive’ will handle a panic stop much better than a human could.
I haven’t heard that yet Bob, but if you say so, I believe you.
The computer and sensors can see the forward vehicle (and probably the object causing the panic stop) before a humans mind can even register that there is an issue, and take action. How do you think auto-brake and lane keeping systems work? They’ll only become more capable in the future.
The auto brake can only see the car in front of you. You, if you’re paying attention, can see farther up.
So can the hive mind, it doesn’t even need to see, the front vehicle will report. The computer can then adjust the braking level of each individual vehicle based on the braking ability of each vehicle and constantly adjust based on traction etc. The computer can use the space between each vehicle to buffer the overall braking needed to stop the ‘train’, impossible to do with individual drivers who all react differently. I can’t design the hardware but I can easily write the code for a computer to do that.
I can see that working once all the cars on the road are hooked up (5G?) and are communicating with each other. I’ve watched vids describing this. But this is faaaar off in the future. Wish I had your computer abilities!
The computer can then adjust the braking level of each individual vehicle based on the braking ability of each vehicle and constantly adjust based on traction etc.
And brakes have never failed mechanically. No thanks to a “hive”. Mechanic for 40+ years.
The Hive! This is great. I only have to hack one vehicle to wreak havoc with the entire Hive!!!
It doesn’t make sense to me to have to have a second vehicle for towing. The wheelbase and weight required to make a tow vehicle safe make utilizing the primary vehicle a more practical solution.
Oooooh, two miles an hour on a closed track. Unless EVERY other vehicle on a regular road were self driving, a vehicle (or two) with “normal antsy drivers” would frequently fill the space between the lead vehicle and the following vehicle. Bicycles, texting pedestrians etc, etc, etc would make for interesting carnage on the roads.
Connections never fail do they?! Nope, not interested, even if it was free.
I hope someone is really close by with a video camera when I do a 360 on an icy highway. That’ll be very interesting to watch on a re-run. Or not!
Whatever you were “hitchless towing” would be sooooo confused! It would certainly be interesting to watch on video after the fact. Have a good evening/night, Impavid. 😀 –Diane
Good thing they are looking to get the vehicles closer together. Right now there is enough room for about 6 Chicago commuters to squeeze in between them. This is an interesting concept, but how much is the tow vehicle going to cost vs a standard trailer hitch?
No. I’m a bit of a Luddite,and I didn’t even get my trailer till I had been too badly crippled up by my career so that I couldn’t sleep on the ground for over 10 years. I’m still pissed off at not being able to get a decent SUV tow vehicle with a stick shift. And the move to all electric everything- I have lived in DC and Florida. Power outages have aboundedand if anyone remembers Hurricane Agnes, which flooded the bus companies and the railroad yards…or in Florida, Our wonderful summer of 2004, when after weeks of powerlessness I’d get electric back just in time to have another hurricane roll through, which is why we still have 2 washboards in the house, and oil lamps. Read/Heard too much about new parents discovering their baby monitors have been hacked and the hackers like to zero in on Mom breastfeeding. Just too much potential for problems. Let me keep my life as simple as possible.
I agree
Whew!!!
Kind of reminds me of the golf bags that have this same kind of technology. That is a bag on normally looking pull cart that follows the person walking, I believe the person wears a key fob or something on their belt or something. I have seen them used on golf courses. But towing a large vehicle with no connection? Interesting but I will wait and see first.
I already have hitchless towing. I drive a class “C” 🤣
It will have to be all or nothing. Every vehicle or none. People hate to follow others. I’m old and I tell my wife “One of the few things I do for fun is drive the speed limit and irritate others.”
Why don’t you folks do a little proof reading – it’s “hurtling down the highway” not “hurdling down the highway”. Unless, of course there are hurdles to jump over.
Maybe they’re jumping over obstacles, like potholes? Thanks, gene. It’s been corrected. Sorry I missed that. (You didn’t see the hundreds of other items I corrected in the posts and newsletters just in the past week, BTW.) Have a good day. 😀 –Diane
This is a total waste of time, first of all the towing machine has to have a powered drive, and it has to be HITCHED to whatever it is towing. All this provides is another motorized thing on the road to either use gas or be charged. who would be dumb enough to buy one???? LMAO! Oh, wait! There is a hitch you will be paying a whole lot of money for a prank played on you by the Auto business!!!
Just another caveat might be the ticket that Police will issue for the tailgating of your unattached companion.
No thanks
This article discusses only 1 of the two types of towing. What about hitchless towing of your car behind tour larger RV? Now that is something I’d like to see!