In wheel Motor by Protean

Post by **photomac** » Fri, 04 Mar 2011, 06:59

Curious

http://www.proteanelectric.com/home.aspx

lots of web glitz but no actual photo has me cautious.

Post by **coulomb** » Fri, 04 Mar 2011, 15:16

photomac wrote: Curious

http://www.proteanelectric.com/home.aspx

lots of web glitz but no actual photo has me cautious.

I thought maybe they buried a picture in the media kit. But the only image that wasn't a complete car was this one (originally 4.2 MB GIF):

Hmmm. No actual motor. Curious, as you say

Post by **Adverse Effects** » Fri, 04 Mar 2011, 17:52

Post by **Anaerin** » Mon, 14 Mar 2011, 22:55

It's basically PML FlightLink's "Hi-Pa Drive" system, the one that was tested by Volvo and put into an F150. Since PML FlightLink went into bankruptcy and was sold, this part of the company has been split off and is under new management. It's the same motor, though, and still just as unavailable, unfortunately.

Post by **EV2Go** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 02:24

Why the splined section for a CV joint? If it is being driven by the motor why do you need to fit a half shaft?

Post by **Adverse Effects** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 11:46

EV2Go wrote: Why the splined section for a CV joint? If it is being driven by the motor why do you need to fit a half shaft?

cheaper to use an existing part them get a new one made

Post by **EV2Go** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 15:06

Anaerin wrote: It's basically PML FlightLink's "Hi-Pa Drive" system, the one that was tested by Volvo and put into an F150. Since PML FlightLink went into bankruptcy and was sold, this part of the company has been split off and is under new management. It's the same motor, though, and still just as unavailable, unfortunately.

Here's a crazy idea... why not produce and sell the motors and make a profit, and then the new company wont need to go into bankrupcy too.

Post by **Tritium_James** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 15:32

Probably because in-wheel motors, while seemingly cool, and actually pretty lousy for driving cars.

Motor size, weight, and cost are basically proportional to torque. Since it's in a the hub, speed is slow, only up to around 1000rpm or so. The much better option is to gear it down say 4:1 (can do this ratio with a single-stage reduction) and spin the motor 4x faster. Now for the same size motor you have 4x the torque available at the wheel. Alternatively, for the same torque at the wheel, your motor costs 4x less, plus the cost of the gearing.

You've now also moved the mass of the motor out of the wheel and put it inboard, also helping protect the motor from the thrashing it's surely going to get banging around on the wrong side of the suspension.

Post by **EV2Go** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 15:59

They would have their place in limited applications. Lets for a moment say I built my trike using two hub motors, the whole area taken up by the motor / diff could be filled with batteries lowering the COG.

But agree for the average car conversion it is far simpler to use a motor / diff.

Post by **gmacd33** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 16:30

I would agree with those limitations of wheel motors. Another issue is that you can't use a multi-stage gearbox, so you have only one gear ratio - this limits acceleration, or top speed, or both.

I think the only benefit is possibly increased efficiency, without the losses of the gearbox and/or differential. However this could be probably be achieved with a central, direct-drive motor in the true sense of the term, whereby a gearbox and differential are not used.

And possibly more usable space.

Post by **Richo** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 20:41

Is having 6 wheel nuts common?

Post by **EV2Go** » Tue, 15 Mar 2011, 23:09

It is for a truck, didn't someone say it was used in a F150?

Post by **juk** » Wed, 16 Mar 2011, 06:13

That suspension looks exactly the same as the front suspension from a lotus elise even down to the splined hub and the secondary bump on the steering arm. There is usually a bolt and plate that bolts through the splined hub onto the back of the wheel bearing.

The six bolts are different though, that could be a function of the motor.

But i tell you that the suspension is not from a truck, or SUV or 4WD as you can't get enough travel from that type of suspension setup, nor is it strong enough.

Post by **Anaerin** » Wed, 16 Mar 2011, 11:01

They produced a "Concept" vehicle that was an F150 with four of these in, but I don't think it ever actually rolled. They did, however, convert a Volvo C30 (The Volvo ReCharge project), again with 4 of these wheelmotors.

Post by **PlanB** » Wed, 16 Mar 2011, 18:43

What happens when the right unit of a pair of wheel motors suddenly dies? Does the still driving one push you into the oncoming traffic?

Post by **Anaerin** » Thu, 17 Mar 2011, 09:16

It depends on how the motor failed. If it's locked, then it'll cause a skid, if it freewheels then the other motor will try and push the vehicle around, but that could be easily held by the steering wheel. It's the same failure mode as a CV joint breaking on a FWD+LSD/4WD+LSD ICE-powered car.

Post by **EV2Go** » Thu, 17 Mar 2011, 23:36

Space permitting I reckon this would be the go if you want two motors and dont want a diff.

Post by **Wellsey** » Fri, 18 Mar 2011, 02:17

Here's the deal, just what you're looking for.

http://www.greenmotorsport.com//product ... 27462.html

These could be RWD, FWD, AWD aand with slight modifications to the design it could be turned into a dual motor cradle with a single output shaft by mounting both motors in the same direction and changing the gear housing from single input to double input with single output.