Toyota says it has developed a new technology that can help design electric vehicles (EVs) more efficiently.

The company said the unnamed AI-based technology would allow designers to “integrate initial design sketches and engineering constraints into text-to-image generative artificial intelligence tools”.

This, it is claimed, allows designers to optimise engineering constraints, such as drag and chassis dimensions, from a design image.

Designers can then use a text prompt to request a number of design ideas based on an initial prototype sketch, while also optimising a quantitative performance metric.

“Generative AI tools are often used as an inspiration for designers, but they cannot handle the complex engineering and safety considerations that go into actual car design. Our new technique combines Toyota’s traditional engineering strengths with the state-of-the-art capabilities of modern generative AI,” said Director of TRI’s Human Interactive Driving (HID) Division Avinash Balachandran.