Toyota Demos Electric Riding Broom

Looking like a cross between a Dyson and a Nimbus 3000, Toyota’s E-Broom creates a serious Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Harry Potter fans and witches the world round can rejoice at Toyota’s latest vehicle: electric riding brooms! The auto maker unveiled a number of electric and self operating vehicle concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show this week, including what Toyota is calling the “e-broom”.

The electric (and stylish) broom features a wheel hidden amongst the broom “twigs” and is meant to be used to propel a rider wearing roller blades or skates. Visitors to the Tokyo Motor Show are encouraged to test ride the device. I hope they brought their Quidditch uniforms!

If released as a product, the Toyota E-broom could possibly change the entire game for the International Quidditch Association (Yes, there is an IQA)! Currently Quidditch players (also called Muggle Quidditch players) straddle brooms, but use their legs to propel themselves across the field.

The IQA has been around since 2005 and the first international championships (now called the World Cup) were held in Oxford, UK in 2012, coinciding with the Olympic Games held in Britain that year. The World Cup is held every two years and has thus far been dominated by the United States, who have taken home the gold medal three times out of the four tournaments held so far.

Having players on wheels would bring a new level of excitement to an already thrilling game, though some changes would need to be made to the field (or the wheels). Toyota has not announced a release date for the E-broom to available for purchase, but if they actually go through with this, here’s hoping that it’s before the next Quidditch World Cup, being held in Richmond, VA in 2020!

I presume that they’ve got a flying broom in the works because, YES PLEASE! Oh, and a wand while they’re at it.

One does have to wonder just how Toyota came up with the idea for an electronic riding broom. Perhaps they thought it would corner the market on cleaning products? Or maybe, just maybe, there are a few Harry Potter fans at Toyota Motors? Perhaps a whole COVEN of them? Like they met round the water cooler/cauldron to discuss new designs and someone said, “Eureka!”

Some say that word means “this bath is too hot” in Ancient Greek, though language scholars dispute this.

The world may never know.

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Sidney Fraser

Sidney Fraser is an American transplanted to a new life in London, where she explores fannish and geeky places, events and creations, which she relates in the continuing True and Proper Adventures of Sidney Fraser.