As we all know, motors, batteries, and electronic control are the three core components of new energy vehicles, and wheel hub motors are the advanced technology in today's motor field. They are also considered to be the "ultimate solution" for automotive drive systems. Electric Motor Manufacturer discuss what is the wheel hub. Motor?

What is a hub motor

Wheel hub motor technology, also known as wheel-mounted motor technology, actually integrates power, transmission and braking devices into the hub. Compared with the traditional electric vehicle, the hub motor eliminates a series of devices such as a differential and a half shaft. Under such simplified conditions, the mechanical loss of the transmission is reduced, and the efficiency is greatly improved, which is why the hub motor is It is called one of the advanced technical reasons in the field of motors.

In fact, the wheel motor technology is not a new thing. As early as 1900, Porsche has already built an electric car with a front wheel equipped with a hub motor. In the 1970s, this technology was applied in fields such as mine transport vehicles.

Classification of hub motors

The hub motor drive system is divided into an inner rotor type and an outer rotor type according to the rotor type of the motor. The biggest difference between the two is that different rotor motors are used, and the outer rotor type uses a low speed outer rotor motor. The maximum speed of the motor is 1000- 1500 rpm; the inner rotor type uses a high-speed inner rotor motor with a motor speed of up to 10,000 rpm.

Advantages and disadvantages of hub motors

Advantages: The hub motor eliminates the need for conventional clutches, axles, transmissions, etc., which greatly increases the interior space of the vehicle. It integrates power, transmission and brakes into the hub, so each wheel is driven independently, making it easy to implement four-wheel drive, which is of great value for multi-tire vehicles as well as special vehicles. The hub motor eliminates some of the transmissions, and the transmission efficiency is more direct. For pure electric vehicles, the cruising range will be improved.

Disadvantages: The inner quality of the hub motor itself is large, which affects the safety and comfort of the car. At present, the manufacturing cost of the hub motor is too high, there are technical reasons and industrialization shortages; due to the harsh working environment of the hub motor, it faces water, dust and so on. In terms of impact, it has high requirements in terms of sealing.

At the same time, if the wheel is often in the case of heavy load and low speed climbing the long slope, it is very easy to cause the motor to overheat due to insufficient cooling. In addition, the brake will also cause the motor to overheat, and the overheating will cause the motor material to demagnetize, which directly affects the performance of the whole vehicle.



Development status of hub motor
At present, there are a total of five companies producing wheel motors in the world, but only Tate is commercially available, thanks to its world-leading technology and product development center, the Dutch e-Traction, which has six major combinations. Over 200 patented technologies.

In addition, there is a company called Protean in the UK, which has the world's top level in wheel hub motors, more than 150 patents related, and is the only company in the world to achieve mass production of passenger wheel hub motors, with Mercedes-Benz and Ford. Well-known car companies have started cooperation. The company was acquired by the Evergrande Group on May 30 this year.

The advantages of high efficiency and high integration of the hub motor are in line with the new energy vehicles that are now in full swing. However, the shortcomings are also very obvious, and it still has a long way to go in the future.

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