• Japan’s THK unveiled the LSR-05 EV prototype at the 2024 Paris auto show
• Prototype features in-wheel motors and wireless charging system
• The designer was former Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura

A Japanese company specializing in components that utilize linear motion with rolling contact presented an electric vehicle prototype showcasing some of its latest developments at this week’s 2024 Paris auto show.

The company is THK, and its LSR-05 prototype uses in-house technology in everything from the electric powertrain to the charging system to the suspension and even the seats.

The LSR-05 was first shown as a concept at the 2023 Tokyo auto show, but the version on display in Paris is a more advanced prototype featuring parts that may end up in production.

Highlights include seats that require a much smaller installation place on the vehicle floor compared to conventional seats, yet still deliver plenty of maneuverability thanks to what TKH describes as a special actuator. This saves interior space, allowing for improved packaging.

The prototype also uses in-wheel electric motors developed by THK. There is one for each of the rear wheels, rated at 125 hp each, which work together with a conventional electric motor driving the front axle, rated at 295 hp. The in-wheel motors, which also work together with a rear-wheel-steering system, feature a variable magnetic flux system that utilizes a highly rigid ball screw developed by THK. The configuration is similar to what Dongfeng has installed in its Fengshen E70, billed by the Chinese automaker as the world’s first passenger vehicle with in-wheel motors.

Other technologies include an active suspension system with magnetic dampers, a brake-by-wire system, and a contactless charging system. The charging system relies on a power transmitter embedded in the ground, and a power receiver installed in the vehicle. Lowering the height of the vehicle using the suspension system improves charging efficiency, enabling the power receiver to be made smaller and lighter, according to THK.

THK LSR-05 prototype

Responsible for the design of the LSR-05 was SN DESIGN PLATFORM, a Tokyo-based design company headed by former Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura. Nissan fans will recognize Nakamura as the designer of the original Leaf EV, as well as the current GT-R sports car. He also designed or oversaw the design of multiple additional Nissan and Infiniti models while he headed the creative teams at both brands from 1999-2017.

The LSR-05 isn’t the only EV designed by Nakamura and his team at SN DESIGN PLATFORM in recent times. He only last year presented the EV Sport 01, an electric sports car concept built to showcase electric motors developed by Japanese technology company AIM. While AIM said it planned to build a business case to get the EV Sport 01 into production, a similar statement hasn’t been made by THK for its LSR-05, though THK said in a statement that it is working on a more advanced EV prototype, which will by called the LSR-07.