This Electronics Giant Wants to Enter the Electric Vehicle Game

• Sharp reveals LDK+ EV concept in Japan, previewing its planned foray into the EV market.

• Developed with iPhone maker Hon Hai, better known in the west as Foxconn, the battery-electric minivan features a reconfigurable interior with a large screen positioned on the aft wall.

• Sharp has not indicated just when it plans to offer a production version of this model, given the rather thin market for electric models in this segment at the moment.

Sony's plans with Honda to field the uniquely styled Afeela brand are still on track, with the futuristic but somewhat anonymous sedan set for a 2026 launch. And Sony is not the only one that wants a slice of the EV pie, even given the recent slowdown in demand that has upended quite a few automaker's plans and balance sheets.

But electronics manufacturers are used to thinking a decade ahead. So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise to see yet another Japanese electronics giant has revealed plans to enter the EV market.

This month Sharp revealed the LDK+ concept at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan, developed in concert with Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn, maker of the iPhone.

But this isn't exactly meant to be a people carrier, at least not in the manner we've seen mass-market models in this segment that have been fielded thus far.

Rather, the concept features a second rear-facing row of seats and a table, all facing a large 65-inch screen attached to the back wall, rendering this something akin to a mobile conference room or a cinema, if not quite a living room as Sharp paints it.

"The large screen allows seamless communication with family members at home, providing a safe and convenient space as if they were in the next room," the company says.

This second row of seats can rotate forward, the company notes, so the imagined passengers don't get car sick while conferencing with relatives via the giant screen instead of using a smartphone.

To give the passengers extra privacy, the side windows of the LDK+ concept can turn opaque thanks to liquid crystal shutters. Solar panels on the roof, meanwhile, can juice up the battery and the home thanks to V2H charging.

Perhaps more consequential than the infotainment tech inside is the EV platform itself, provided by Hon Hai, which has been itching to get into the EV contract manufacturing industry. Lending this concept plenty of credibility is the fact that the platform already underpins EVs that are in production at the moment in Taiwan, so this isn't a concept without an underlying industrial base.

Quite a few questions remain about this effort, including just when Sharp wants to begin selling EVs under its own brand, and whether consumers will adapt quickly to electronics brands hawking EVs via their usual retail spaces.

China's Xiaomi, until recently know for its smartphones and tablets in the single largest personal electronics market in the world, clearly believes consumers will easily make the transition, and has the orders to show for it.

Will we see at least five electric minivan models offered stateside in this decade, or will this segment remain small for the next few years? Let us know what you think in the comments below.