{"id":3353,"date":"2019-07-19T16:28:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T14:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-wheel.com\/?p=3353"},"modified":"2019-07-19T16:28:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T14:28:46","slug":"elaphe-progressing-in-wheel-motors-to-the-mainstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-wheel.com\/en\/news\/elaphe-progressing-in-wheel-motors-to-the-mainstream\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressing Elaphe in-wheel motors to the mainstream"},"content":{"rendered":"
July 19th, 2019<\/h6>\n
\n

In-Wheel Hub Motors Hit the Mainstream<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lexus recently hinted at their future plans to use in-wheel hub motors on their production vehicles. Vice president of Lexus, Koji Sato, revealed that the Japanese luxury automaker will soon reveal a master product development plan for future EV platform investments that includes a new and radical way to underpin these vehicles.<\/p>\n

\"\"We wonder what happens to the grill, once the skateboard platform is adopted? #inthewheels<\/i><\/p>\n

Integral to Lexus\u2019 master plan is the incorporation of in-wheel electric hub motors, a setup which would enable each of the four wheels to operate independently. While the in-wheel motor is still a concept for Lexus, Sato noted they, \u201cWill continue to pursue this exciting technology\u201d. Lexus is not alone in their pursuit of in-wheel technology as there are a number of other companies working on similar applications.<\/p>\n

A new startup, called Lightyear, recently introduced their own concept prototype with in-wheel motors powering their solar car, due to the inherent benefits they bring from an efficiency standpoint.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lightyear One Solar car prototype concept using in-wheel motors to drive efficiency.<\/em><\/p>\n

When we read stories like these in the news, everyone seems to make the in-wheel motor technology seem like something that won\u2019t be a reality in production vehicles for a very, very long time. However, being so close to the technology here at Elaphe<\/a>, we thought we\u2019d share a bit about what in-wheel technology is capable of today\u200a\u2014\u200athis instant\u200a\u2014\u200ain real applications.<\/p>\n

First things first: How does an in-wheel powertrain integrate into a\u00a0vehicle?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The answer is that it\u2019s actually quite simple. It integrates by using a unique concept we developed at Elaphe. We build the in-wheel motor with standard vehicle components in mind. This makes the integration modular, and allows the motors to seamlessly fit on both the existing\u200a\u2014\u200aand the new platforms\u200a\u2014\u200ausing the same passive suspension, braking system and bearing. Like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The motor is added to the wheel like the rim and tire. Especially nice if the knuckles are adapted to this, since it does not change the steering geometry, wheel base, kinematics or brake servicing. Thinking about doing a pitstop tire exchange demo:)<\/p>\n

And like this, if you look from the rim and tire perspective:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The image below shows how an integration looks on an actual vehicle:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Elaphe in-wheel powertrain performance mule based off a stock Audi R8 platform. Currently does 3.38 sec 0\u2013100 kph (0\u201362,5 MPH). Improving as we\u00a0go\u2026<\/p>\n

This is not our first rodeo either. We\u2019ve been testing these bad boys on road-legal, production donor vehicles since 2009, and we have recently revealed two of our highest-performance in-wheel powered mules\u200a\u2014\u200athe most advanced and performant in-wheel cars in existence to date. You might have seen some media featuring this, such as ChargedEVs<\/a>, DigitalTrends<\/a>, GreenCarReports<\/a>, and CleanTechnica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We are constantly having fun with the vehicles on the track, trying to bring the motors to their breaking point with all sorts of high performance and high stress driving manoeuvres (no luck so far). The following video provides a glimpse at how these vehicles perform in the real world on a high performance test track called ZalaZone<\/a>. The tests involved hard cornering, heavy braking, aggressive shocks on various terrain and environments:<\/p>\n