NTN: EV mobility “Q’mo” capable of “Pivot Turn” acquires license plate

[Representing the world’s first EV mobility equipped with the In-wheel Motor]

NTN Corporation (hereafter, NTN) has acquired the world’s first license plate for the electric vehicle (EV) mobility “Q’mo”*1 that is capable of driving on public roads as well as “pivot turn” and “lateral move.” The vehicle will be used to demonstrate the capabilities that the new-era microcompact electric commuter is capable of that conventional vehicles are not, while also expanding applications of the In-wheel Motor System and newly developed steering system.

In 2011, NTN first unveiled the “Q’mo I”*2, a compact, two-seater electric commuter concept model powered with the In-wheel Motor which was planned and produced solely by young employees and female engineers. A joystick was used to control the proprietary 4-wheel independent steering system to highlight the advantage of futuristic vehicles by demonstrating the impressive “pivot turn” and “lateral move” features of the In-wheel Motor drive system.

In 2013, NTN announced the two-seater electric commuter “Q’mo II,”*3 which added further practicality and was capable of urban driving. NTN proposed the “Multi Driving System” consisting of the In-wheel Motor System and a newly developed steering system, as a new drive system capable of driving safely as well as offering new types of movement.

Procedures were then made to register the “Q’mo II” equipped with this “Multi Driving System”, and as a result, NTN acquired a light vehicle license plate for the EV mobility “Q’mo,” the first of its type in the world capable of driving on public roads as well as “pivot turn” and “lateral move.”

NTN will continue to develop new markets for this new-era EV mobility “Q’mo” that can easily change direction on narrow roads or parallel park, as well as propose its underlying “Multi Driving System” and work together with manufacturers of completed vehicles and companies involved in the development of compact EV and personal mobility.

Test drive events will be held around the country to develop new applications for the “Q’mo,” which include driving short distances for shopping by families with small children and users of elderly drivers and for welfare use, as well as a zippy mode of transport for driving at facilities such as tourist spots, airports, plant sites or hospitals. These test drive events will also be used to call for new ways to use EV mobility to further improve functionality by fusing the “Multi Driving System” developed and provided by NTN with new technologies such as automated driving or automated parking systems for use as environmentally-friendly EV system products.