microcarfan
  • Electric microcar
  • Japan
  • Four wheels
  • One seat

Toyota COMS

Also known as Everyday COMS, COMS P·COM and B·COM, CU Toyota Ha:mo (Thailand)

On paper its motor makes 0.59 kW, just inside the 0.6 kW that Japan allows a one-seat mini-car. At full stretch it makes 5 kW, and 7-Eleven bought it to take shopping to its customers’ doors.

Green and white single-seat microcar with round lamps and a clear door, parked beside a grey van.
A green and white second-generation Toyota COMS parked by a building in Japan in February 2015.Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Toyota COMS

Second generation, P·COM · Toyota Auto Body

Built
2000–The first generation from June (August by one source) 2000 to May 2011; the second from July 2012, still built
Country
JapanAraco, then Toyota Auto Body, both of the Toyota group
Maker
Toyota Auto BodyThe first generation by Araco, whose car business joined Toyota Auto Body in October 2004
Engine
Electric motor, six sealed lead-acid batteries5.2 kWh; co-developed with Yaskawa Electric. The first generation had two 2 kW hub motors
Power
0.59 kW rated5 kW peak and 250 Nm
Length
2,395 mm1,095 mm wide, 1,500 mm high
Weight
410 kgThe P·COM of 2012; 410–430 kg by version; the first generation 270 kg
Seats
1
Wheels
4
Price new
¥798,000The P·COM, July 2012; the B·COM from ¥668,000
Production
about 9,500Second generation, to March 2022; about 2,000 of the first
Top speed
60km/h60 km/hThe first generation 50 km/h

How big is it?

True proportion

2.40 m

It is 575 mm shorter than a Fiat 500, about 1.4 adults laid end to end.

  • 1.09 m wide
  • 410 kg: about five adults
  • One seat
  • A turning radius of 3.2 m
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

Toyota’s one-seat electric microcar takes its name from the initials of a Japanese phrase, Chotto Odekake Machimade Suisui, roughly “a quick, easy little trip into town”.12 It belongs to the Japanese mini-car class of the Road Traffic Act: a single-seat vehicle with a rated output of no more than 0.6 kW, driven on an ordinary car licence and registered like a class-1 motorised bicycle, so that it needs neither a parking certificate nor the shaken roadworthiness inspection.32

The first COMS was built by Araco, a body maker of the Toyota group, and went on sale as the Everyday COMS on 1 June 2000 by Japanese Wikipedia’s date, or in August by the launch report of 2012.32 It had a resin body on an aluminium frame, two 2 kW motors in the wheels and lead-acid batteries; it reached 50 km/h (31 mph), ran 35 to 45 km (22–28 miles) on a charge, took 8–10 hours to recharge and weighed 270 kg (595 lb).12 In October 2004 Araco’s vehicle business was merged into Toyota Auto Body.3 About 2,000 were sold before the first generation ended in May 2011.12

The second COMS

A show car for the second generation appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2007, and after about four years of development Toyota Auto Body launched it on 2 July 2012.132 Its president, Takuji Amioka, presented it as the company’s own work.

これからの時代の近距離移動に適したEVとして、当社が独自に設計、製造したのが、この2代目コムスだ。

Takuji Amioka, president of Toyota Auto Body, at the launch on 2 July 2012, as reported by MONOist. In English: “This second-generation COMS is an EV we designed and built ourselves as suited to short-distance travel in the years ahead.”2

It is 2,395 mm (94 in) long, 1,095 mm (43 in) wide and 1,500 mm (59 in) high, on a steel ladder frame, and it weighs about 410 kg (904 lb).23 The motor, developed with Yaskawa Electric, is rated at 0.59 kW to stay inside the mini-car rule, but gives 5 kW and 250 Nm at its peak; the top speed rose to 60 km/h (37 mph), 1.2 times the old car’s, and the range is about 50 km (31 miles).12 It turns in a radius of 3.2 m, against 4.4 m for a typical kei car, and Toyota Auto Body pointed out that a COMS spends 77 per cent of its driving time below 32 km/h (20 mph).2 The law asks no crash test of a mini-car, so the company ran its own frontal test at 32 km/h.2

Some accounts give it lithium-ion batteries. The 2012 car has none: six Panasonic sealed lead-acid units under the floor, 5.2 kWh in all, charged in about six hours from a 100 V socket for about ¥120.2 The chief engineer explained why.

二次電池として鉛電池を採用したのも、低コストで信頼性が高いことによる。コスト低減を意識すると、高コストのリチウムイオン電池はまだ採用できない

Go Matsunaga, chief engineer, Toyota Auto Body, July 2012, as reported by MONOist. In English: “We chose lead-acid batteries because they are low-cost and reliable. With cost reduction in mind, we cannot yet adopt expensive lithium-ion batteries.”2

Owners have since swapped the lead-acid batteries for lithium-ion to reach 100 to 200 km.3

On the delivery round

There were four bodies: the P·COM for personal use, with a lockable 150-litre box at the back, and the B·COM for business, as a Delivery with a 350-litre box, a Deck with an open load bed, or a bare Basic.32 In July 2012 the P·COM cost ¥798,000 and the B·COMs ¥668,000 to ¥773,000; with a subsidy of up to ¥70,000 the cheapest came in under ¥600,000. It was sold through about half of Toyota’s Japanese dealers, 140 companies with 2,701 outlets, and about 500 had been ordered at the launch, against a target of 3,000 a year.2

A large customer came with the launch. 7-Eleven Japan took the COMS for its Seven Rakuraku home-delivery service, planning 3,000 within one or two years, and Yakult also uses them to deliver to homes, which puts the B·COM among the micro-vans.32 Abroad, the COMS was sold in Thailand as the CU Toyota Ha:mo and hired to tourists at Nusa Dua on Bali.1 About 9,500 of the second generation had been sold by March 2022, and in 2022 and 2023 Toyota Auto Body showed two concept studies built from it, the CN COMS for automated driving and the off-road Fun·COM Explorer.1

Silver single-seat open microcar with a round headlamp and a tubular rear load rack on a wooden floor.
A first-generation Everyday COMS Long of 2008, with open sides and a rear rack, on museum display in August 2024.Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Side view of a white and green single-seater with a brown fabric door and 7-Eleven logo by a shop wall.
A B·COM Delivery in 7-Eleven livery outside the Beppu Kannawa store, Beppu, in April 2018, its fabric door closed.Photo: daisuke1230, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Side view of a silver microcar with no door, showing a black seat, steering wheel and the rear box.
The one seat and the controls of a silver B·COM Delivery, open at the side, in Nagakute, Aichi, in January 2024.Photo: 先従隗始, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 10

  • Yellow and white single-seat microcar with its box lid open on a show stand, visitors and a staff member around it. Opens a larger view

    1 A yellow and white Toyota COMS B·COM at the Tokyo Motor Show, Japan, in November 2013.

  • Green and white single-seat microcar with an open side on a white stand, a city-scene backdrop behind. Opens a larger view

    2 A green and white Toyota COMS on a Toyota display stand in March 2017.

  • Green and white single-seat microcar with open sides and a small rear box on a bright white show floor. Opens a larger view

    3 A green and white Toyota COMS P·COM on a motor-show stand in January 2017.

  • Rear of a white single-seat microcar with a small lockable boot box and round tail lamps in a car park. Opens a larger view

    4 A green and white second-generation Toyota COMS P·COM from behind, showing its boot box, in Japan in February 2015.

  • White single-seat microcar with a fabric door and sponsor stickers parked by a row of charging posts. Opens a larger view

    5 A second-generation Toyota COMS in Ha:mo car-share livery on charge near Toyota’s Motomachi plant, Toyota City, Japan, in October 2019.

5 more picturesFewer pictures
  • White and green single-seat microcar with an open side parked in a marked charging bay beside charging posts. Opens a larger view

    6 A Toyota COMS of the Grenoble car-share scheme at a charging station in Grenoble, France, in November 2014.

  • Green and white single-seat microcar with an open side on a terracotta-tiled floor in front of a display board. Opens a larger view

    7 A green and white second-generation Toyota COMS P·COM at the AMLUX Toyota showroom, Tokyo, Japan, in January 2013.

  • Close view of a blue-spoked airless tyre with a white Bridgestone hub cover under a white car’s wheel arch. Opens a larger view

    8 A Bridgestone air-free concept tyre fitted to a Toyota COMS at the Paris Motor Show, France, in October 2014.

  • A white and a green single-seat microcar parked by a shop banner, a dark kei hatchback alongside. Opens a larger view

    9 Two second-generation Toyota COMS parked by a shop in Nagoya, Japan, beside a kei car, in March 2023.

  • Two white single-seat microcars with clear doors parked nose to tail outside a shop with bicycles. Opens a larger view

    10 Two white second-generation Toyota COMS parked on a pavement in Yokohama Chinatown, Japan, in 2024.

The car: COMS B·COM Delivery 6

  • Green and white single-seater with a 7-Eleven door logo parked on tiles under a shop canopy. Opens a larger view

    11 A Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery in 7-Eleven livery parked outside a store in Japan in March 2014.

  • Green and white single-seat electric microcar with open sides and a 7-Eleven logo, parked on a gravel lot. Opens a larger view

    12 A Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery in 7-Eleven livery parked in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2013.

  • Side view of a white and green single-seater with a fabric door curtain and 7-Eleven box, a traffic cone beside it. Opens a larger view

    13 A Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery in 7-Eleven livery in profile, its side curtain closed, in Japan in June 2014.

  • Silver single-seat microcar with a tall rear delivery box beside a red bollard on dry grass. Opens a larger view

    14 A silver Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery (ZAD-TAK30) parked on rough ground in Nagakute, Aichi, Japan, in January 2024.

  • Rear of a white single-seater with a large box lettered in Japanese and a 7-Eleven logo by a mesh fence. Opens a larger view

    15 A Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery in 7-Eleven livery from the rear three-quarter, with its lettered box, in Japan in December 2017.

  • White single-seat microcar with a large rear delivery box bearing a poutine logo, on a glossy white stand. Opens a larger view

    16 A Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery with a ‘Romi’s Poutine’ box livery on a motor-show stand in January 2017.

Inside and details 3

  • Black single seat with a grab bar and rubber floor mat inside a small car with a rolled-back clear door curtain. Opens a larger view

    17 The single seat of a second-generation Toyota COMS seen through its open side in Grenoble, France, in November 2014.

  • Black three-spoke steering wheel in front of a small digital display, seen through the open side of the car. Opens a larger view

    18 The cockpit of a second-generation Toyota COMS, with its steering wheel and digital instrument panel, in Grenoble, France, in November 2014.

  • White single-seat microcar with the lid of its large rear cargo box raised, showing a parcel inside. Opens a larger view

    19 A Toyota COMS B·COM Delivery with its rear box lid open on a display stand in March 2017.

Variants and relatives 6

  • Silver single-seat microcar with a large mesh rear load rack and red tail lamps, classic cars behind. Opens a larger view

    20 A first-generation Toyota Everyday COMS Long of 2008 from the rear three-quarter, showing its load rack, in August 2024.

  • White single-seat microcar with red and black Rally Japan graphics parked on paving beside a hedge. Opens a larger view

    21 A second-generation Toyota COMS in Rally Japan livery at Toyota City, Japan, in 2022.

  • Pale blue and white single-seat microcar with a T-COM plate on a white stand under a Toyota Auto Body sign. Opens a larger view

    22 A blue Toyota COMS T·COM on the Toyota Auto Body stand at the Tokyo Motor Show, Japan, in November 2013.

  • Red and white single-seat microcar with a T-COM plate on a white turntable lettered COMS. Opens a larger view

    23 A red and white Toyota COMS T·COM on a turntable at the Tokyo Motor Show, Japan, in November 2013.

  • Grey open single-seat concept with a cargo box marked KAYOIBAKO and a lit screen, on a dark stand. Opens a larger view

    24 The Toyota Coms-X concept at the Japan Mobility Show, Tokyo, in November 2025.

  • Grey open single-seat concept with a large KAYOIBAKO cargo box on its rear deck against a white backdrop. Opens a larger view

    25 The Toyota Coms-X concept from the rear, with its cargo box, at the Japan Mobility Show, Tokyo, in November 2025.

Picture credits (25)
  1. 1 Loadbeta, CC0
  2. 2 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0
  3. 3 Zytonits, CC BY-SA 2.0
  4. 4 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0
  5. 5 Evelyn-rose, CC0
  6. 6 Raphael Desrosiers, CC BY 2.0
  7. 7 Momotarou2012, CC BY-SA 3.0
  8. 8 Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 3.0
  9. 9 円周率３パーセント, CC BY-SA 4.0
  10. 10 Syced, CC0
  11. 11 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC0
  12. 12 Daniel Davis, CC BY 2.0
  13. 13 MIKI Yoshihito, CC BY 2.0
  14. 14 先従隗始, CC0
  15. 15 MiNe, CC BY 2.0
  16. 16 Zytonits, CC BY-SA 2.0
  17. 17 Raphael Desrosiers, CC BY 2.0
  18. 18 Raphael Desrosiers, CC BY 2.0
  19. 19 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0
  20. 20 Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0
  21. 21 Evelyn-rose, CC0
  22. 22 Mj-bird, CC BY-SA 3.0
  23. 23 Loadbeta, CC0
  24. 24 TTTNIS, CC0
  25. 25 TTTNIS, CC0

Variants

Two generations, four bodies

COMS versions
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
Everyday COMS2000–⁠11Araco’s first generation: resin body, aluminium frame, two 2 kW hub motors, lead-acidAbout 2,000
COMS P·COM2012–Personal; a lockable 150-litre box at the backPart of about 9,500 to March 2022
COMS B·COM Delivery2012–A lockable 350-litre delivery boxPart of the same
COMS B·COM Deck2012–An open load deck, 1,005 × 675 mmPart of the same
COMS B·COM Basic2012–No load body; the cheapestPart of the same

Specification

The second-generation P·COM of 2012, from the launch report unless noted

Motor and batteries

MotorRated 0.59 kW; 5 kW and 250 Nm at peak; co-developed with Yaskawa Electric2
BatteriesSix Panasonic sealed lead-acid units under the floor, 5.2 kWh2
ChargingAbout six hours from a 100 V household socket; about ¥120 a full charge (2012)2
First generationTwo 2 kW hub motors, lead-acid batteries, 8–10 hours to charge12

Body and chassis

FrameSteel ladder frame12The first generation had an aluminium frame and a resin body
SuspensionMacPherson struts at the front; trailing beam at the back2
BrakesDiscs1
Crash testThe maker’s own frontal test at 32 km/h; the law asks none of a mini-car2

Dimensions

Length2,395 mm (94 in)2
Width1,095 mm (43 in)2
Height1,500 mm (59 in)2
Weight410 kg (904 lb)32420–430 kg by English Wikipedia; the first generation 270 kg
Turning radius3.2 m, against 4.4 m for a typical kei car2

Performance and running

Top speed60 km/h (37 mph)132The first generation 50 km/h
RangeAbout 50 km (31 miles)12The first generation 35–45 km
Running costAbout ¥2.4 a kilometre (2012)2
Price new¥798,000 (P·COM); ¥668,000–773,000 (B·COM), July 20122

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

About 11,500 in two generationsAbout 2,000 of the first generation and about 9,500 of the second by March 2022, both from English Wikipedia; together they make about 11,500, our sum. Toyota Auto Body’s own figures were not read.

  1. about 9,500second-generation COMS sold, July 2012 to March 2022One source

    English Wikipedia1

  2. about 2,000first-generation Everyday COMS sold, 2000–⁠11One source

    English Wikipedia1

  3. about 500second-generation cars ordered at the launch in July 2012One source

    MONOist, 3 July 20122

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. 0.59 kW, or 5

    Rated just inside Japan’s 0.6 kW mini-car rule, but 5 kW at its peak.

  2. 7-Eleven’s car

    Taken up in 2012 for the chain’s home deliveries, 3,000 planned in a year or two.

  3. Lead, on purpose

    Lead-acid batteries in 2012, because lithium-ion still cost too much.

Survivors and collecting

Today

The COMS remains in production and in daily use; no collector interest, club or auction result has been found. The photographs here include a first-generation car on museum display, B·COMs in 7-Eleven livery, a second-generation car on charge near Toyota’s Motomachi plant, and one in a car-share scheme in Grenoble, France.

Sources

Numbered as in the text

The second-generation car rests mainly on one period report of its launch, by MONOist in July 2012; the first generation and the sales on English and Japanese Wikipedia. No road test was read.

  1. English Wikipedia, Toyota COMS, read.
  2. 「1人乗りEV『コムス』はコスト低減で60万円以下に、セブンイレブンが宅配に採用」 (The one-seat EV COMS comes in under ¥600,000 through cost cutting; Seven-Eleven adopts it for deliveries), MONOist (ITmedia), 3 July 2012. Read in full, page 1 of 2.
  3. Japanese Wikipedia, コムス (COMS), read.