TOKYO MOTOR SHOW: Mitsubishi Emirai 4 roadster concept

Mitsubishi Motors will unveil the future of its famed Evo nameplate with the e-Evolution coupe-crossover concept at next week’s Tokyo motor show, but that won’t stop sister company Mitsubishi Electric getting in on the act with its own futuristic concept car.

Better known for its air-conditioners, the Japanese company has revealed an edgy electric roadster dubbed the Emirai 4, which is designed primarily to showcase Mitsubishi Electric’s autonomous driving and connected technologies.

Technical details are sketchy, but the range of human machine interface (HMI) features includes an augmented reality head-up display and a “crossed images display” that uses mirrors and LCD panels to create 3D images of the surrounding environment.

A sliding controller allows drivers to scroll through various vehicle functions without taking eyes off the road, while sensors detect when a door is about to be opened, projecting images onto the vehicle and the road to alert passing vehicles and pedestrians.

Perhaps most interesting is an occupant monitoring system, based around a wide-angle interior camera, that automatically switches from manual to autonomous driving mode if it senses the driver or another road user is being unsafe.