Conservative
Type 40
this looks very promising for reducing weight and eventually costs on electric cars. I like the idea it can be used to retrofit existing cars. How about an electric '67 Mustang?
Protean Electric looks to revolutionize electric cars with in-wheel motors | Fox News
Protean Electric looks to revolutionize electric cars with in-wheel motors | Fox News
Unlike many existing systems that use large motors to drive either a transmission or axles to get power to the wheels, Proteans in-wheel motors are fully housed within the otherwise conventional wheels, which are bolted directly to them.
Proteans innovative design packages the stationary, permanent magnet at the center of the device while the rotor is on the outside, making it easier for the wheel to be directly attached. Inverters and power electronics are housed between the two, rather than in a remote unit, further simplifying and reducing the weight of the complete system. Each motor is made up of between four and eight parallel submotors, so in the event that one fails the unit can continue to operate until it is serviced.
With an $84 million investment from Chinese investor GSR Partners, Protean is building a manufacturing center in the city of Liyang, China, that will have an initial capacity to build 50,000 motors per year and will begin pre-production in early 2013.
Purcell says the company will handle early production in house at its new facility, but the business plan is to ultimately license the technology to large manufacturers that can build the product in very high volumes themselves.