Going full circle

摘要

For suspension designers in particular, it's counter-intuitive to deliberately increase unsprung mass. But there are good reasons to do so: integrating motors into the hubs is an expedient method of creating an electric vehicle. Ford engineers at Aachen have been working with hub motors for three years. And, from the start of this year, they have been assessing the viability of the technology for series production. The work is part of the Mehren project being carried out with partners including Tier One Schaeffler. At the current beta level of development, the Schaeffler hub motors integrate a 33kW/350Nm drive inside a 16-inch wheel, A Fiesta demo car has two of the motors on the rear axle, each adding 45kg.