IN-WHEEL MOTORS
“We plan to be selling these
motors in volumes of up to
millions by 2023-2025”
Chris Hilton, chief technology offi cer, Protean Electric
internal combustion
vehicle – easily controllable
high levels of torque, as well as
independent wheel control. Leaders in the
in-wheel fi eld include Elaphe Propulsion
Technologies and Protean Electric, and both
have been investigating the benefi ts of the
technology since the early 2000s.
“Our motor design was iterated through
applications and OEM, Tier 1 and user
requirements,” states Gorazd Gotovac, chief
technical o cer at Slovenian-based Elaphe.
“We’ve spent 15 years perfecting the design to
be as compact as possible, manufacturable in
series, durable, and cost-eff ective. Our motor is
more of a top hat over the hub with a friction
brake, using existing mass-produced
suspension, knuckles, hub bearings and brake
systems. It’s highly scalable and customizable.”
At 1,500Nm, the company’s L1500 in-wheel
1. In-wheel
motors integrate
power electronics,
digital control and brakes
2. Elaphe’s design
is scalable and
customizable
44 // January 2020 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
motor is the most torque-dense on the
market, each unit making 108kW
(147ps). Optimized for low-volume
production, the L1500, like others, is
compatible with all drive layouts.
That same versatility is shared by Protean’s
ProteanDrive technology. Under development by the
UK-based company for over a decade with over 160
patents fi led, it is now in its fourth generation.
Proving a mass-production process at its
Tianjin manufacturing base in China,
its fi rst major vehicle program is
reported to start in 2020. “We’ve had
interest from customers who have
an existing two-wheel drive
electric platform and want to
make a four-wheel drive version,
but they can’t package a second
electric axle,” explains Chris
Hilton, chief technology o cer at
Protean Electric.
But the company, now owned by
National Electric Vehicle Sweden
(NEVS), has also pioneered the Protean360+
‘corner module’ concept. For use in nextgeneration
urban mobility pods, it off ers a limitless
360-degree cornering capability and integrates powertrain
– including an 80kW (109ps), 1,250Nm ProteanDrive Pd18
permanent-magnet synchronous motor – steering and
suspension components into a single module. A critical
target was to allow vehicles to ‘kneel’, for stepless kerb-tovehicle
access. It’s this enhanced maneuverability which has
attracted potential customers, says Hilton.
An almost infi nite steering capability means the vehicle
can just spin around and around, and all four wheels can do
it independently. Fitting the same unit to all corners of the
vehicle also helps slash costs.
Although autonomous pods make up one burgeoning
area of the in-wheel market (the global intelligent mobility
1
2
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