Reinventing electric car design by adding in-wheel motor to the two front wheels

Reinventing electric car design by adding in-wheel motor to the two front wheels

AIC and TECNALIA present new technology that adds to interior vehicle space while improving driveability | 13/10/2015

Bilbao, 13.10.2015 - Electric vehicles today use the space originally earmarked for the combustion motor to install the electric drive, thus wasting one of the biggest advantages of the electric motor, its high power density, or, to put it another way “a lot of horsepower in very little space”. This problem prompted AIC-Automotive Intelligence Center and TECNALIA, in the framework of European project EUNICE, to help develop a technology that allows carmakers to make the maximum use of the electric motor’s ability to supply plenty of power in a very small space: the in-wheel motor.

What the in-wheel motor is designed to do is free up more space in the interior of the vehicle, which would then enable vehicle makers to redesign the current concept of the electric vehicle while also making driving easier.

Basically, the system gives the vehicle maker much greater freedom in designing, and the chance to make optimum use of the space available. This is applicable to both conventional vehicles and to new concepts for vehicles that break with the norm to better adapt to the future needs of Smart Cities. With this concept we can have a front boot, another boot at the back and free space between the two for passengers or extra loads.

The system is also functionally very efficient, with zero emissions, and offers new control potential in each wheel to improve vehicle driveability and safety.

Thirteen partners have worked together as part of the European project EUNICE (www.eunice-project.eu/) for the last four years to develop the system. During the project, the participants have designed, developed and validated a complete in-wheel motor assembly tailor-made for electric vehicles. The assembly has passed all thermal stress tests with flying colors in extreme operational conditions, as well as other drive and comfort tests, driveability, safety and durability to demonstrate high vehicle architecture modularization.

European mobility using electric vehicles is today a key factor in the development of the sustainable society of the future. However, despite the development’s future importance, some technological wrinkles have still to be ironed out as far as energy storage and vehicle traction are concerned. Even so, solutions based on the in-wheel motor are a huge step forward in this respect, to the extent that they should lead to a whole new generation of electric cars.

About AIC-Automotive Intelligence Center

AIC-Automotive Intelligence Center is an open innovation center that provides a single umbrella for know-how, training, technology and industrial development initiatives designed to improve competitive levels in the automotive industry. More than 700 people from 30 organizations work at AIC facilities. AIC founders include Bizkaia Provincial Council, the Amorebieta-Etxano and Ermua city halls, a group of cutting-edge companies from the automotive sector and Basque automotive cluster ACICAE.

About TECNALIA

TECNALIA Research & Innovation is Spain’s leading private applied research and technology development center and one of the most important in Europe, with 1,400 experts of more than 30 nationalities, all working to transform knowledge into GDP to improve people’s quality of life, by creating business opportunities in companies and corporations. Inspiring Business is a synthesis of two concepts that go hand in hand at TECNALIA: imagining and making it real. This is what sets TECNALIA apart from the rest.