At the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technology expo in Hannover yesterday, Elaphe presented the latest generation of its monster in-wheel electric hub motors, which can now smash out as much as 1,500 Nm (1,106 lb-ft) of torque and more than 110 kW (147 hp) per wheel.
Hub motors have their positives and negatives – on the one hand, they place the torque right where the rubber meets the road, eliminating drivetrain efficiency losses and giving precise, instant control of the power that's going to each wheel. They also remove centrally-mounted motors, letting you use more space in the cabin on certain types of vehicles. On the other hand, they're significantly heavier than standard rims, which gives the car's suspension system a fair bit of extra unsprung weight and rotating mass to deal with.
The performance has become higher and the penalties lower on Elaphe's latest gearless hub design, which fits inside rims 19-inch or larger and can be used for FWD, RWD or AWD layouts, as well as vehicles that use even more wheels. There are no specs on weight yet, but the company's own, smaller M700 motors offer about half the torque and weigh 23 kg (50.1 lb) per wheel.
Already tested on passenger cars, off-road vehicles and even a track car, the L1500 motors combined to achieve a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time of 3.5 seconds, which the company claims is the quickest acceleration ever achieved by in-wheel motors. It's unclear whether that vehicle was using two or four of the motors to get its time.
The massive torque motors will go into limited run production in the final quarter of 2019.
Source: Elaphe
I think there is a place for electric cars but I don't think it will replace all gas powered vehicles. I think there are times an gas powered vehicle is needed.
Eliminating all CO2 in the air will harm the plants since plants take in CO2 and give out oxygen.
You're also wrong about gas cars always having a role to play. EV's with ~200 mile range are becoming standard, and high end is approaching 400 mile range. So the reasons to continue making ICE vehicles, are dwindling.
I do like this system, as is stated in the article there is no system mechanical energy loss. Vintage cars can use this sort of system as apposed to removing the engine and mounting a motor module although a lot of manufacturers are going for the no damage type of approach where only the existing mounts and fittings can be used. I thing it will be awesome to see more vintage and classic cars on the road as EV's in the future. While they might not sound the same, at least they are reliable.
That or giant soft tires maybe.
Fabian, small amounts of extra unsprung weight only matters on race vehicles, where you HAVE to keep the tire in contact with the ground for acceleration, deceleration, or extreme cornering.
The only trend I dislike is the elimination of sidewalls in tires. The lack of rubber on that mockup ensures that you will be able to determine, after running over a cigarette butt on the road, whether it was a regular or filtered butt. I'm stickin' with 70 series, TYVM. They hold up to curbs for when you need to get off the road in a hurry, and they withstand the kind of potholes our nauseating and corrupt state and county officials leave us with.