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January 22, 2015
"e-mobility station@Shonan T-SITE" Opens | Volkswagen
Volkswagen × SHONAN T-SITE | Volkswagen Shonan T-SITE
Ride the e-up! and Measure Your Brainwaves. What Does It Mean?
“e-mobility station@Shonan T-SITE” Opens
Volkswagen Group Japan has opened a showcase at the newly established smart town "Shonan T-SITE" in Fujisawa City, Shonan, where visitors can test drive the company's first electric vehicle, the "e-up!". This limited-time event marks the start of Volkswagen's new initiative, themed around "ideal living and mobility" rooted in the community and its people.
Text by AKIZUKI Shinichiro (OPENERS)
Photographs by ARAKAWA Masayuki
Volkswagen's Experiential Showcase
An experiential showcase, offering an early test drive of the "e-up!"—Volkswagen's first electric vehicle, set for release on February 1st next year—opened on the 12th of this month within "Shonan T-SITE" in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Shonan T-SITE is a complex commercial facility developed by Culture Convenience Club, the company behind "TSUTAYA," and is the second such establishment following the "Daikanyama T-SITE," which opened in 2011. While Daikanyama T-SITE proposed a lifestyle for adults through books, films, and music, Shonan T-SITE is characterized by its store design, which incorporates the Shonan seaside lifestyle as its concept and targets young families.
This facility is a core component of the "Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (Fujisawa SST)," a public-private joint project with partner companies, which aims to create a future town considering energy, security, mobility, healthcare, community, and even emergency preparedness. It is planned that as many as 1,000 families will eventually live on the premises centered around Shonan T-SITE.
Volkswagen's showcase, "e-mobility station@Shonan T-SITE," which has opened for a limited time, is located in one corner of this facility. It features a pure white roof, glass exterior walls, and a wooden deck. The building, embodying Volkswagen's simple and clean lifestyle brand, is unpretentious and houses the e-up! on display both in front of the entrance and inside.
Upon opening the door, the refreshing scent of wood envelops you. Along both sides of the walls, 3,000 books are arranged, curated by the "Tsutaya Books" and its professional booksellers across 27 genres (26 from A to Z, plus 'e' for e-mobility). It offers a relaxing space where visitors can freely read books, even if they are not test-driving.
Volkswagen × SHONAN T-SITE | Volkswagen Shonan T-SITE
Ride the e-up! and Measure Your Brainwaves. What Does It Mean?
“e-mobility station@Shonan T-SITE” Opens
A Completely New Test Drive Experience Revealed by Brainwaves
As mentioned earlier, the main attraction here is the test drive of the electric vehicle, the e-up!. After booking your desired time at reception, follow the instructions to get into the car. But before that, don't forget to put on the headset...
A special "mechanism" was prepared for this test drive experience: using the brainwave measurement system "Kansei Analyzer," the driver's brainwaves during a specially set test drive course would be measured. The results would then be analyzed from three perspectives: "enjoy," "exciting," and "emotion." After the test drive, based on the measured data, books and coffee tailored to the participant's characteristics and preferences would be recommended—this is how the system works.
Inside, 3,000 books are displayed, curated by "Tsutaya Books" and its professional booksellers across 27 genres.
The "Kansei Analyzer" brainwave measurement system developed by Ms. Yasue Mitsukura, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University.
During my test drive, the results were: enjoy = 56%, exciting = 58%, emotion = 100%. It was fascinating to see my brainwaves, which I couldn't know myself, quantified, with such extreme fluctuations. The feedback for me was: "You are a good listener, so we recommend hosting home parties. Everyone will be amazed by your talent as a host."
Although I'm not particularly sociable, the books in the "T" section I was directed to were all so appealing that I wanted to pick them up—a true testament to Tsutaya Books. Perhaps the brainwave results weren't so far off!?
Meanwhile, one coffee was selected from the 27 varieties offered. I was served a freshly brewed "Kobuchisawa Original Mild Blend," which was refreshing and subtly sweet. It was a blissful cup after the test drive, especially welcome in the cold weather.
Volkswagen's experiential showcase offers not just a test drive of the e-up!, but also an unprecedentedly novel mechanism to discover a new self through brainwaves. Until December 28th this year (and only on weekends and holidays thereafter), anyone can participate in the test drive, including brainwave measurement, free of charge.
If you happen to visit Shonan on a holiday, why not stop by? You might encounter a world you've never experienced before, combining electric cars and brainwave measurement.
Volkswagen "e-mobility station@Shonan T-SITE"
Address | 6-21-1 Tsujido Motomachi, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Open Period | Until Sunday, February 15, 2015
Business Hours | 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM Daily
*Closed every Tuesday. However, open on Tuesday, December 23rd, with substitute closure on Friday, December 26th.
*During the New Year period (December 29th - January 4th), "e-mobility station@Shonan T-SITE" will be open, except for "e-driving."
Regarding "e-driving" (Brainwave Measurement) Test Drives
Dates | Until Sunday, December 28, 2014 (From the following year, only on weekends and holidays during the period)
Times | 11:00 AM - 4:30 PM (Last reception: 4:00 PM)
*Outside of the "Dates" above, it is a "test drive of e-up! only" without brainwave measurement.
*Test drives of the "e-up!" only, without brainwave measurement, are also available.
http://vwedrive.jp/special/
Volkswagen Customer Center
0120-993-199