EV technology over the recent years has primarily been focused on making certain things bigger.
We have big cars like the Hummer EV and the Rivian R1S, while bigger batteries provide more miles of range in between charging stops.
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Though technology has allowed for electric cars to get physically bigger, Hyundai and Kia have thought outside the box for a completely new solution.
The South Korean automakers announced their new invention; the universal wheel drive system, or 'Uni Wheel,' for short.
The Uni Wheel is similar in practice to an in-hub motor; which are often used in electric scooters and bicycles. Here, many of the components used to propel said vehicles forward or backwards are inside the actual wheel.
What Hyundai and Kia has done with the Uni Wheel was relocate the reduction gear – the component used to drive the wheels of an electric car, to inside the wheels. In principle, this allows Kia and Hyundai to use a smaller, just as powerful motor on the individual wheels, rather than a huge drive unit to power the whole axle.
Using individual motors to move each wheel has its advantages in both performance driving and in tough conditions like rain and snow, as each wheel can respond independently to the situation it senses for maximum traction.
The gears within the Uni Wheel are set up in a flexible arrangement, and can move up and down within the hub while still receiving power without any interruption of any power from the motor. With the use of the Uni Wheel, manufacturers can do away with a component called the Constant Velocity (CV) joint, which can interrupt power delivery when it is stretched at extreme angles in situations where the suspension does its job.
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In addition, because the Uni Wheel takes up less space within the frame of an EV, the extra space can be employed to size up passenger compartments, as well as bigger batteries.
Kia (KIMTF) -) and Hyundai (HYMLF) -) have tested the Uni Wheel extensively for durability and indicated that it is performing well. The two companies have filed patents in South Korea, Europe and the United States for this technology, however, the automakers are unclear about a production rollout.
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“We are happy to be able to present innovative ideas that could be game changers in the future mobility market,” said Park Jong-sul, senior research fellow at the Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Advanced Technology Institute. “We are developing technology so that customers can experience mobility in a completely different and new way than before.”
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