Cars do little when parked in the garage. But what if they can also be an extra room? An electric minivan that doubles as a room on wheels — a living room with a home theatre or a study for zoom meetings — could make better use of a parking space.

For Japanese electronics group Sharp and its Taiwanese parent Foxconn, this boxy vehicle is a bid to find new sources of growth. The electric minivan prototype, called the LDK+, uses an EV platform developed by Foxconn. It is meant to operate as an extension of the home for the space-constrained, with a living room-like interior, rotating seats, a Sharp LCD display, air conditioning and AI-controlled lighting. 

It also has practical uses. The electricity stored in the EV battery, via its solar panels, can be used for both the car and the home, useful in areas prone to outages.