- Japan’s THK unveiled the LSR-05 EV prototype on the 2024 Paris auto present
- Prototype options in-wheel motors and wi-fi charging system
- The designer was former Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura
A Japanese firm specializing in parts that make the most of linear movement with rolling contact introduced an electrical automobile prototype showcasing a few of its newest developments at this week’s 2024 Paris auto present.
The corporate is THK, and its LSR-05 prototype makes use of in-house expertise in all the things from the electrical powertrain to the charging system to the suspension and even the seats.
The LSR-05 was first proven as an idea on the 2023 Tokyo auto present, however the model on show in Paris is a extra superior prototype that includes components which will find yourself in manufacturing.
Highlights embody seats that require a a lot smaller set up place on the automobile ground in comparison with standard seats, but nonetheless ship loads of maneuverability due to what TKH describes as a particular actuator. This protects inside house, permitting for improved packaging.
THK LSR-05 prototype
The prototype additionally makes use of in-wheel electrical motors developed by THK. There’s one for every of the rear wheels, rated at 125 hp every, which work along with a traditional electrical motor driving the entrance axle, rated at 295 hp. The in-wheel motors, which additionally work along with a rear-wheel-steering system, function a variable magnetic flux system that makes use of a extremely inflexible ball screw developed by THK. The configuration is just like what Dongfeng has put in in its Fengshen E70, billed by the Chinese language automaker because the world’s first passenger automobile with in-wheel motors.
Different applied sciences embody an energetic suspension system with magnetic dampers, a brake-by-wire system, and a contactless charging system. The charging system depends on an influence transmitter embedded within the floor, and an influence receiver put in within the automobile. Decreasing the peak of the automobile utilizing the suspension system improves charging effectivity, enabling the facility receiver to be made smaller and lighter, in response to THK.
THK LSR-05 prototype
Accountable for the design of the LSR-05 was SN DESIGN PLATFORM, a Tokyo-based design firm headed by former Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura. Nissan followers will acknowledge Nakamura because the designer of the unique Leaf EV, in addition to the present GT-R sports activities automotive. He additionally designed or oversaw the design of a number of further Nissan and Infiniti fashions whereas he headed the inventive groups at each manufacturers from 1999-2017.
The LSR-05 is not the one EV designed by Nakamura and his staff at SN DESIGN PLATFORM in latest instances. He solely final yr introduced the EV Sport 01, an electrical sports activities automotive idea constructed to showcase electrical motors developed by Japanese expertise firm AIM. Whereas AIM stated it deliberate to construct a enterprise case to get the EV Sport 01 into manufacturing, an analogous assertion hasn’t been made by THK for its LSR-05, although THK stated in an announcement that it’s engaged on a extra superior EV prototype, which is able to by referred to as the LSR-07.
