Hyundai and Kia have changed the wheel again. The Uni Wheel concept will revolutionize the packaging of electric vehicles, thereby increasing the space available. Moreover, not only in cars, the system can be used in wheels ranging from 4 to 25 inches.
It’s just a little less effective because the power plant of the electric car is practically controlled, reports ArsTechnica. And on the right, not in the battery in the middle – there is a sense for the subsection of the car until the batteries become available, which will be part of the body structure. The problem is in the electric vehicle drive – a bulky device that drives an electric motor, transmission gears and, usually, power electronics.
One of the concepts is to install an electric motor directly into the wheel. There are also problems here – the unsupported masses will increase (the lighter the wheel, the better), and the engine will lose the same weight, hitting the wheel, it will probably go out of tune much faster.
Uni Wheel is done differently. The wheel is driven by a high-voltage electric motor, but instead of being installed more closely to the suspension, which allows for more space between the wheels (which can be adjusted for a larger number of battery modules, or to increase luggage department). Until now, the problem was that the primary CV joints could not fit into the corners, which would require a short drive shaft from the motor to the wheel.
Therefore, the CV joint, driveshaft and gearbox were moved to a new block installed in the wheel. There is a planetary gear system that transmits the drive from the engine to the wheel, and with large-scale rotation between the gears, which allows the drive shaft to roll over a wide range, repeating the rocking of the suspension.
Vacancies
Manager B2G simpals
Senior Back End Engineer (Node) Go Interactive
Full Stack Developer (Next.js React Nest.js) Amofintech, Kiev
Without interfering with electric passenger cars, Hyundai and Kia claim that Uni Wheel can give a disabled person a ride or a large-wheeled robot can get off “as smoothly as on an escalator.”
Like many other amazing engineering ideas, the Uni Wheel is still at an early stage of development, so there are no immediate guarantees, but the serial production will soon begin. Ale offended automakers are beyond enthusiasm.