These wheels will incorporate electric motors in them, which will save space and simplify the vehicle’s design. And will also allow for mechanical input as well.

Each wheel will have magnets built into approximately half of the width of the hub. In the center of the wheel, there will be a very short axle that would be able to connect to a drive shaft. Around the axle in the ‘empty’ half of the wheel, will be the electromagnetic coils of the motor. The magnetic coil disk or “ring” will be attached to the suspension of the vehicle, and the axle of the wheel could be attached to a mechanical drive train.

These allow for both electrical and mechanical input, unlike regular wheels with regular motors attached to them, or electric wheels with center hubs that are stationary and the rest of the wheel rotates around them.

These could be made to fit standard car tires, or they could be made larger for other kinds of tires or custom tires.
-- BJS, Jun 24 2006

TheWheel http://www.e-traction.com/TheWheel.htm
Like dat? [BunsenHoneydew, Jun 24 2006]

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MIEV http://www.seriousw...-Evolution-MIEV.htm
It's hubs are stationary, I think [BJS, Jun 25 2006, last modified Jan 26 2007]

Mitsubishi Roadster Konzept http://www.seriousw...oadster-Konzept.htm
"The 280 hp provided by the in-wheel motors combined with the 80 hp rear-mounted engine brings an impressive 360 hp to zip around congested freeways." I don't know why they are combining the generators’ horsepower with the wheels horsepower, since it is a series hybrid, and not a parralel hybrid. [BJS, Jun 25 2006, last modified Jan 26 2007]

GM Has one that does this http://www.advancea.../dsm20031001mw.html
BAKED BAKED BAKED [jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006]

"TheWheel" isn't like this wheel, it's like the electric wheel I already discribed in last section of my idea. "The exterior of the motor, the rotor - affixed with permanent magnets on the inside, spins around and the stator, which contains the electromagnets and remains stationary."

Okay UnaBubba (or someone else), give me an example of a car that uses wheels like I discribed.
-- BJS, Jun 24 2006


It's another electric wheel. They've been discussed. They have a lot of unsprung weight, which is bad. The only reason to put the motor in the wheel is to avoid mechanical connectors. If you have mechanical connectors, put the motor in the car body.

Don't mess with UnaBubba.
-- baconbrain, Jun 24 2006


If I'm following your description right,the only difference between yours and TheWheel is that you have arranged the magnets and coils laterally rather than radially. How is this really different, or more importantly, better?
-- BunsenHoneydew, Jun 28 2006


I guess it would wouldn't exacty be more spatially "efficient" than "TheWheel", but, it can have both electrical and/or mechanical input, and it has alot more area to mount it to the vehicle.
-- BJS, Jun 28 2006


Okay, so it's a kind of wheel-integrated hybrid motor. Neat. Now that I get it, I'll change my vote. [+] Perhaps a change of title could reflect this.
-- BunsenHoneydew, Jun 29 2006


Oh so now our friend BJS has resorted to deleting anotations that he doesnt like.
-- jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006


as stated in my previous annotation that was so rudely deleted the Lancer MEV photographs show this exact design is being used. The motor shown is attached around a conventional FWD suspension and Disc brake rotor and Caliper. THe design is identical to what is proposed in this idea. It is Baked and as stated before this should be MFD.
-- jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006


An example of a vehicle that uses wheels as you describe is not available because noone would build it that way.
-- jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006


jhomrighaus, the Mitsubishi Lancer MIEV _IS NOT_ identical to my design. My design will not have disk brakes inside of them, which take up alot of space. Instead they will have a larger motor system. Maybe I will have to design a different type of a secondary breaking system, which would be able to stop the car faster than the reginerative breaking can and that could possibly recapture most of the energy that would just be wasted by regular breakes.
-- BJS, Jun 29 2006


they are fundementaly identical, they were working around exisiting engineering and you were starting from scratch, still doesnt change the fact that the means of operation and fundemental mechanicals are exactly the same. Thiers is more practical because it allows use of exisiting technology and is more readily integrated into normal production vehicles. The main point is that your idea is not original or new and with even basic research you would have known that.
-- jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006


This idea wasn't meant to be completly new or original, it's just a design I guess...
-- BJS, Jun 29 2006


On a positive note its a good enough design idea that Mitsubishi has built at least 2 cars around it.

Dont despair, you have great ideas, the key is finding some that are new and original(especially for your age). I will say that your ideas are getting better and the reasoning behind them is more original.

I look forward to you're next one.
-- jhomrighaus, Jun 29 2006


Firstly, I'd hardly call wheel-motors widely known to exist, although, yes, a little Googling would probably have turned them up.

Second, the extra unsprung weight in the GM concept car linked is only 40 pounds per wheel. That doesn't sound deal-breakingly significant on a vehicle that's likely to weigh the better part of a ton.

Third, I misread the OP and my apologies. You propose a mechanical drive at the hub, with extra torque applied to the wheel electromagnetically, not a straight wheel-motor. I missed that bit. Like a few of us here it would seem, I got to the electric in-wheel motor bit and then my eyes just glazed over, skimming the rest.

The GM concept has separate electric drive at the rear, and ICE drive at the front. The Lancer is a straight electric series hybrid. TheWheel has a fixed hub, and no mechanical drive.

Thus your idea _in full_ is manifestly _not_ baked in any of those designs. Not that I'm entirely sure it's practical, but full marks for originality. [+]

GM: "... by placing two wheel hub motors in the rear of a front-wheel drive, four-cylinder vehicle ..."

Mitsubishi: "... the in-wheel motor ... allows drive torque ... without requiring transmission ..."

Lads, you owe BJS an apology. NO [M-F-D], at least not for bakedness.

Now, can we all at least argue about (and vote on) what he actually proposed?

For example, I can forsee some problems with synchronising the electric drive and the mechanical drive, but nothing some smart electronics shouldn't be able to fix.
-- BunsenHoneydew, Jul 10 2006


Bunsen if you look at the photos of the mitsubishi you will see that it is axactly what is described here except that it uses a secondary wheel inside the main wheel, otherwise all is the same.
-- jhomrighaus, Jul 12 2006


I can't find anything that explicitly states that any of the linked cars have both a mechanical and an electrical drive on one and the same wheel. It would seem ludicrous, to me, to build a car with a full electrical transmission with four in-wheel motors and then throw in a mechanical drive train, with gears and mechanical differential, capable of withstanding the full torque experienced by the (rear?) wheels but only adding 80 hp of power transmission. Why not just beef up the electrical system, so that it handles the combined power from the IC engine and the batteries? I suspect this is what the Mitsubishi does, but the articles are badly worded and don't make it clear.
-- spidermother, Jul 12 2006


//It would seem ludicrous, to me, to build a car with a full electrical transmission with four in-wheel motors and then throw in a mechanical drive train//

It would probably seem a lot less ludicrous if you had further to go than the batteries could take you. Also the other big advantage to these sorts of systems is that (based on the mitsubishi photos) they are a retrofitable option to older vehicles. This would allow those of us who love old cars to make them environmentaly friendly(or at least far more so) while still preserving and enjoying thier history.
-- jhomrighaus, Jul 17 2006



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