In comparison with inner combustion automobiles, battery-powered vehicles are a lot less complicated. There’s no oil to alter, no multi-gear transmission that may go flawed should you don’t maintain it, and all of the mechanical components often take up much less house.
That’s why we get frunks, a flat flooring, and beneficiant trunks on most EVs. However issues is likely to be even higher within the packaging division, as Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia discovered.
Meet the Common Wheel Drive System (or Uni Wheel for brief), which was designed to make room for extra stuff beneath an EV’s physique–batteries (which may result in extra vary), cupboard space, or simply to have a extra ethereal cabin.
![Uni Wheel Drive from Hyundai and Kia](https://cdn.motor1.com/images/static/16x9-tr.png)
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The compact but difficult unit integrates a single solar gear that transfers energy via a pair of pinion gear arms that may transfer independently to an outer ring gear in a versatile planetary design. With this strategy, there’s no want for a standard fixed velocity (CV) axle to switch energy from the electrical motor to the wheel as a result of the enter shaft of the Uni Wheel can transfer up/down and left/proper with out large losses in effectivity.
With CV axles out of the image and a set of redesigned electrical motors which are extra compact readily available, the drivetrain is less complicated and takes up much less house on the chassis. Hyundai and Kia say that the system–which continues to be in its infancy–presents improved trip high quality, better sturdiness, and elevated effectivity along with higher packaging choices in comparison with the present approach of doing issues.
The Uni Wheel additionally incorporates the discount gear that’s often discovered subsequent to the electrical motor in at the moment’s typical EVs, which permits for the motor housing to be smaller.
Right here’s how Hyundai and Kia describe their creation:
A standard drive system utilizing an everyday CV joint suffers from a lower in effectivity and sturdiness because the angle of drive shaft deflection will increase when touring over bumpy, undulating surfaces. Uni Wheel can transmit energy with virtually no change to effectivity no matter wheel motion, guaranteeing excessive sturdiness and trip consolation.
When mixed with digital air suspension that may alter trip top in keeping with the driving state of affairs, this may be elevated to stabilize the automobile on tough roads or decreased for high-speed driving to enhance energy and stability.
It’s a fairly attention-grabbing idea that’s completely different from an in-wheel motor which provides much more complexity to the combo. It’s additionally not the primary time Hyundai has proven an idea that may make life simpler for future EV drivers, with its Mobis division showcasing the so-called e-Nook System that allows 360-degree turns.
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