Toyota spruiks hitchless towing

Imagine a day when you can tow your caravan without a coupling, wiring or any other physical connection?

It's not something that crosses the mind of most caravanners used to the often fiddly and time consuming task of hitching up a 'van to the tow vehicle, before double checking everything is secure and works before heading off.

However, regardless of any perceived customer demand for hands-free 'wireless' towing, Toyota has been spending time and funds on the development of a hitchless towing system.

The auto manufacturing giant recently posted a short video simply titled 'Hitchless Towing', which demonstrates the potential of applying autonomous driving technology to the RV and trailer markets.

"Hitchless towing is a very interesting new concept that is a pair of vehicles where the rear vehicle acts somewhat like an autonomous vehicle, but it basically allows the two vehicles to play follow the leader," Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) R&D Advanced Product Senior Manager, Paul Fanson says.

"So the lead vehicle would be driven by a human and the following vehicle would naturally follow behind as a trailer would, but there would be no physical connection."

As can be seen in the video, Toyota says it has already taken the concept from a science-fiction idea to an "operational two vehicle system", although for safety reasons it has yet to test it in real traffic, or with the two vehicles less than a few metres apart.

While Toyota doesn't elaborate on how hitchless towing might work with a caravan or trailerboat, it's likely it would utilise existing technology such as hybrid drive, axle-driven motors for the following trailer, and have a wheel in each corner of the caravan rather than the more conventional wheel cluster in the middle, for stability reasons.

Some potential benefits of hitchless towing include not having to worry about a coupling or trailer wiring corroding or working loose, or having to calculate towing weights like tow ball mass, GVM and GCM as the trailer weight would no longer directly impact the vehicle in front.

Reversing a hitchless trailer would also be easier if the trailer had its own remote-controlled, battery-powered motor and was being steered by technology rather than a human! Not to mention making set-up at camp a lot quicker with no coupling or chains to disconnect, jockey wheel to lower or stabiliser legs to wind down...