A self-propelled electrically powered wheel, operating at more than 90% energy efficiency, with optional 180° electric or mechanical steering including suspension, ride-height control and shock dampening, delivers up to 15,000 Nm of direct drive traction at the only place where it matters,.....at the wheel.

Only one moving part!

The genius of TheWheel™ lies in the complete absence of power transfer through gearing of any kind and the use of an electromotor in the opposite manner in which it is customarily used.  Usually the center of an electromotor spins around and the housing remains stationary.  In the case of TheWheel™ this is reversed.  The exterior of the motor, the rotor - affixed with permanent magnets on the inside, spins around and the stator, which contains the electromagnets and remains stationary.  The tire is mounted directly to exterior of the direct drive motor. The greater the diameter of the motor within the wheel, the greater the torque.  For smaller applications an external direct drive engine has been developed delivering virtually all the same benefits.

Unlike traditional electric motors, the management of power requirements for each movement of TheWheel™ is internal.  The energy supply is constant while the modulation is regulated internally within TheWheel™ based on the data input from the operator.  For high voltage/amperage requirements operators can opt to connect the standard embedded cooling system.   

When mounting more than one propelled wheel on a traditionally powered vehicle a mechanical differential is needed to equalize the force needed for the differing radius experienced by each wheel for each turn.  When using more than one TheWheel™, however, the embedded and external hardware and software together resolve this problem electronically without the need for complicated and heavy mechanical solutions.  By simply reducing the energy use of TheWheel™ on the inside of the turn and/or adding energy to TheWheel™ on the outside of the turn all thus powered wheels obtain full optimum traction at all times.  As an additional benefit, this same electronic management system includes both traction control and anti-lock braking.

Braking is done electrically, or more precisely magnetically, by simply powering the engine(s) in the opposite direction. The energy of the forward motion arrested by the braking action is converted back to electrical power.  This process is called regenerative braking.  When simply coasting down a hill the engines also function as generators.  The regeneration of power adds substantially to the endurance of the batteries, which lessens the need for auxiliary power supplementation.

Batteries are intended to be the principal source of electric energy supply for vehicles equipped with TheWheel™.   On average TheWheel™ uses only half the electric energy of a typical geared traction motor (see: Mechanical Efficiency and/or Friction Reduction).  This means that only half the amount of battery capacity and generative power is required.  The battery capacity needed obviously varies for each application.  For optimum energy efficiency, the weight of a vehicle is kept to a practical minimum.  High capacity batteries can weigh a considerable amount.  A balance, therefore, needs to be achieved between the typical usage cycle of the vehicle and the combined endurance of the batteries, the availability of scheduled external battery charging using external power and the capacity of an onboard generator.  The onboard generator, including a fuel cell, could use a wide variety of fuels.  The key to energy efficiency is primarily on how it is used instead of how it is generated.  If environmentally friendly generated power, like for instance with a fuel cell, is wasted with inefficient applications, such as geared electric motors, the financial and environmental benefits are not optimized. 

The maintenance requirements of TheWheel™ are a fraction of that of conventional fossil fuel engines.  In the unlikely event that this should ever be needed, engine change only requires removal of twelve bolts and a plug consisting of just three wires, a positive & negative power supply and a data cable.  The simplicity of application and functionality will afford limitless variations on the use of TheWheel™.

An important feature of TheWheel™, and also its smaller derivative the e-Traction® SM350 not only provides an extremely efficient means of traction, it also can be just as easily used as an efficient generator. 

TheWheel™ has been patented internationally (Patent Nr. WO 01/54939). 

Follow-up patents or separate component patents are in an advanced stage of registration and approval is anticipated shortly in the Patent Cooperation Treaty system and other selected countries. In addition new patents are continually being filed to maximize the protection for the various novel inventions contained within the e-Traction® System and/or products.

Performance Comparison of the Product Range:

The dual electric direct drive e-Traction® System is available in both in a wheel hub as well as a non-wheel hub stand-alone format. While the product range was developed to cater to a great variety of application options, each system makes use of the same electronic management design and cooling principles.

Wheel hub format Non-wheel hub format

Click on the table below for an enlarged version of the table as a PDF image

Click on any chart below for a PFD version of all three combined:

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Last modified: June 20, 2010