Throughout a “Uni Wheel Tech Day” occasion held in Seoul earlier at this time, Hyundai Motor and Kia Company introduced a doubtlessly game-changing strategy to the design of an EV’s drivetrain. The Common Wheel Drive system, or “Uni Wheel” for brief, strikes foremost parts to the wheel hub, creating further house in a given automobile’s inside. Be taught extra within the video beneath.
Whereas the worldwide mobility market slowly however certainly transitions into the intense, all-electric future, lots of the design methods and essential mechanical parts have modified and, in lots of instances, been minimized. One key element in ICE autos, nonetheless, has remained comparatively the identical within the leap to EVs – the drivetrain.
The ability created in inner combustion engine autos is transmitted from the engine via the transmission, then out towards the wheels through drive shafts and fixed velocity (CV) joints. In EVs, the engine and transmission are changed by a motor and discount gear, however the technique of energy transmission to the wheels remains to be the identical.
Electrical motors are extra compact and, when mixed with flat EV platforms, have created much more inside house throughout the identical automobile footprint in comparison with ICE vehicles. Nonetheless, these motor(s) nonetheless take up house within the entrance and/or rear of an EV.
Immediately, Hyundai and Kia have launched a brand new drive system answer that may create much more platform house whereas sustaining the effectivity essential for an efficient EV vary. We’ll clarify it as greatest we are able to, however Hyundai Motor’s photos and video beneath are a wonderful information as nicely. Meet Hyundai and Kia’s new Uni Wheel system.
Hyundai’s Uni Wheel system frees up extra inside house
Kia and Hyundai shared particulars of the brand new Uni Wheel know-how in a press launch following its Tech Day occasion held in South Korea earlier at this time. Described by its makers as a “paradigm-shifting automobile drive system,” the Uni Wheel uniquely strikes the primary drive system parts to the vacant house inside an EV’s wheel hub.
We’ve seen different passenger EV builders like Lordstown Motors strive in-hub motors and fail (and go bankrupt) however have additionally seen startups specializing in industrial EV applied sciences like REE Automotive develop an identical strategy with its proprietary REEcorners.
Hyundai has taken an identical but distinctive strategy with the Uni Wheel system that makes use of a particular planetary gear configuration consisting of a solar gear within the middle, 4 pinion gears on both sides, and a hoop gear surrounding the whole lot (see second picture above).
Conventional ICE autos make the most of CV joints, however transferring them nearer to the wheels requires a brief drive practice size and, because of this, a lower in effectivity and sturdiness – particularly over bumpy terrain. Hyundai and Kia’s Uni Wheel system, however, can transmit energy with nearly zero adjustments to effectivity, no matter wheel motion. Per Kia:
Energy generated by the motor is transmitted to the solar gear, which in flip engages the pinion gears to rotate the ring gear. That is related to the wheel to drive the automobile. Uni Wheel’s pinion gears are related to one another to type two linkages, and this multi-link mechanism permits Uni Wheel’s multi-axis motion to permit a variety of suspension articulation.
The result’s extra platform house and, in return, extra room inside an EV’s inside, together with cargo house plus roomier trunks and frunks. The know-how additionally opens the door to a wider design alternative for non-conventional seating configurations throughout the cabin, which might show fruitful as we proceed to develop and combine extra autonomous driving applied sciences into our autos.
Nonetheless following? I honestly didn’t fairly grasp precisely how the Uni Wheel know-how works till I watched the complete video posted by Hyundai Motor Group, which you’ll view beneath. Typically, it’s greatest to depart it to the consultants, particularly when visuals are concerned.
Trying forward, Hyundai and Kia say they plan to proceed to excellent the Uni Wheel system in order that future clients can expertise mobility in a “utterly completely different and new means.” The timeline for after we will see this technique built-in into an precise EV stays unsure at this level, however Kia and Hyundai Motor state they’ve already utilized for and registered eight patents associated to the know-how in South Korea, the US, and Europe. Be taught extra beneath:
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