AutoElectric VehiclesElectric cars don’t just need lighter batteriesJon Bentley knows that EVs are the heaviest cars on the road, but is hopeful that technological remedies can also help in other waysWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
AutoElectric VehiclesElectric cars don’t just need lighter batteriesJon Bentley knows that EVs are the heaviest cars on the road, but is hopeful that technological remedies can also help in other waysWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Jon Bentley knows that EVs are the heaviest cars on the road, but is hopeful that technological remedies can also help in other ways
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Mercedes-Benz)
(Image credit: Mercedes-Benz)
It’s common knowledge that electric cars have a weight problem. On average, they’re around 30% heavier than their combustion-engined equivalents, a burden that’s mainly down to the batteries. Manufacturers are working hard to eliminate this issue through developments like solid-state cells, new battery technologies, and more efficient packaging.
For me though, the biggest advantage of lighter and smaller motors is that they will find their way out from the body of the car, into its wheels. In-wheel motors have usually added too much unsprung weight, affecting ride and handling, and have not developed enough power. But those disadvantages are being overcome.
(Image credit: Hyundai)
(Image credit: Hyundai)
What can be achieved with in-wheel motors was demonstrated atCES2024. The Hyundai Mobion, based on the Ioniq 5, uses the company’s e-Corner system, and has four hub-mounted motors. Freed from the constraints of driveshafts, all four wheels can swivel through 90 degrees. The car can crab sideways into parking spaces, spin on itself and steer diagonally from one lane to another.
As well as the tricks, the individual motors mean the car can control the torque sent to each wheel – this ‘vectoring’ helps the car corner, accelerate and brake more effectively. Wheel mounted motors also free up more space for supercapacitors in the body of the car that can help improve the regenerative brakes’ performance.
Chinese company Dongfeng launched production EVs with radial flux in-wheel motors last year. Radial flux motors are the cylinder-shaped ones normally found in electric cars but disc-shaped axial flux motors are intrinsically lighter and fit more easily into a wheel.
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We’re used to thinking of electric cars as conventional ones with electric power. But lighter, in-wheel motors have the ability to truly transform car architecture, in useful and exciting ways.
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