A recently-surfaced Ferrari patent software hints at in-wheel motors for future efficiency street automobiles.
In a submitting revealed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Nov. 2, 2023, filed the earlier April, the Italian efficiency automaker seems to be working to combine motors along with friction brakes, as a part of a automobile’s wheel meeting.
Ferrari is creating axial-flux motors, however the software discusses the extra conventional sort of motor—of the radial-flux permanent-magnet synchronous sort.
As described within the software, the stator can be a part of the wheel hub, whereas the rotor can be connected to the wheel rim. This would additionally incorporate the brake disc as a part of the meeting, with the disc and rotor separated by a spacer.
Ferrari in-wheel motor patent picture
Ferrari claims this design reduces price and complexity by limiting the variety of further parts wanted for an in-wheel motor. The automaker additionally claims that it may deal with any points caused by the added unsprung weight that comes with in-wheel motors by way of suspension design and tuning. And it describes use of electromagnetic sensors to provide extra exact management over energy stream—which might be a major differentiator.
Ferrari is not the primary performance-car producer to think about in-wheel motors. McLaren early this yr introduced that it is creating an “in-wheel propulsion system” combining McLaren Applied Technologies racing experience with Elaphe in-wheel tech, for “hyper-responsive electric vehicles.”
Other functions have been much less performance-focused. Lightyear claimed that it had the world’s best EV powertrain with in-wheel motors—additionally from Elaphe—however the Lightyear 0 EV did not fairly get to the manufacturing stage.
Ferrari in-wheel motor patent picture
Lordstown Motors additionally used Elaphe in-wheel motors, licensing the tech for its Endurance electrical pickup truck. The Endurance did briefly make it to manufacturing, however few had been constructed earlier than Lordstown declared chapter. Elaphe has yet one more buyer in Aptera, which in 2019 introduced that it might use the corporate’s motors for its three-wheeler. Aptera has mentioned the car is getting nearer to production-ready, however hasn’t supplied a agency timeline.
All this apart, Chinese automaker Dongfeng earlier this yr claimed to have the world’s first common manufacturing passenger automobile with in-wheel motors—from provider Protean. The Dongfeng Fengshen E70 solely makes use of in-wheel motors to energy its rear wheels, nonetheless, with a traditional inboard motor powering the entrance axle.
Source: www.greencarreports.com
