Protean’s Unique 100HP In-Wheel Electric Motor
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If you bought into cult stock Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) exactly one year ago, you’d be up on your investment over +540% today. Equally as unique as these returns are some of the facts about the Tesla Model S. It contains a brick of 6,831 lithium-ion batteries that weigh about 1,000 pounds. It captures energy from braking and transfers it back to the batteries. It can be fully charged in 3.5 hours with a range of 250 miles. It doesn’t use a key, but instead recognizes you based on a fob you carry. The +13,000 RPM electric motor weighs just 70 pounds and generates 416 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque that moves the car from zero to 60 in 4.2 seconds. They say Tesla salespeople who take potential buyers out for a ride ask them to turn on the radio before they put the pedal down because it’s funny to watch the person try to reach the radio and fail because the acceleration is so powerful. The Model S is no doubt an impressive achievement by Tesla. Another company looking to fundamentally change the way electric cars are designed is Protean Electric.
About Protean Electric
Founded in 1963, privately held Protean Electric has 90 employees today and a long past in the development of electric motors. It was only in 2005 that Protean began developing their in-wheel electric motor. In July of 2012, Protean closed on a funding round of $84 million from GSR Ventures, New Times Group, and Oak Investment Partners. Protean has been awarded 33 patents for their unique technology as well as 101 additional international patent applications pending.
The Protean Drive
Listed by Car and Driver magazine as one of the ten most promising technologies for 2013, the Protean Drive is a 75-pound electric motor that generates 100 horsepower and 735 lb-ft of peak torque. 85 percent of the available kinetic energy in the Protean Drive can be recovered during braking. The motor does not require external gearing, drive shafts, or differentials. The motor package, which contains an inverter, control electronics, and software, fits easily in the unused space behind a conventional 18 to 24-inch wheel as seen below:
The way that Tesla designed their Model S is with a rear-mounted electric motor that powers the two rear wheels. The Tesla configuration much represents the way the two front wheels and the engine interact in a front-wheel-drive car. The new AWD Tesla Model X will have two electric motors for both the front and rear axles.
Protean Electric proposes instead to have 2 or 4 separate in-wheel electric motors that could be configured as FWD, RWD, or AWD. Since each of these high-torque motors can be controlled independently, one can only imagine what sort of traction control could be achieved from an AWD configuration. Perhaps the greatest potential of the Power Drive is that it can be integrated easily to make a hybrid out of existing cars or trucks.
Protean has developed multiple demonstration vehicles, including a Ford F150, a Volvo C30, and BRABUS full electric and hybrid vehicles based on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. In December 2013, Protean announced a partnership with FAW-Volkswagen to develop an all-new electric propulsion system that will include the Protean Drive. Volume production of Protean Drive motors is expected to begin in 2014 out of Protean’s new manufacturing facility in Liyang China.
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I have been asking Mercedes when an electric version of my 2003 A class would be available. It was reputedly designed to house batteries in the floor sandwich. After only 60,000 miles the automatic gearbox has failed. If only I could have it fixed with in-wheel drives it would be (almost) as good as new. It seems that I was 10 years too early.
It will be useful to hear some consumer reviews on in-wheel drives if they are used in a for-purchase car and not just prototypes. Hopefully that will come out of their partnership with FAW-Volkswagen.
dear Sir/mrs,
i would like to now if you plan to sell an aftermarket installation kit in the near future
and if so, wat will it cost, and were can i buy one.
Best regards, Ton Hoefman
H.T.S. Oudewater
Netherlands
Hi Ton,
I actually looked into that out of interest and didn’t see an option. Most likely it would involve a licensed dealer who would perform the aftermarket install. It’s best to contact Protean for more info on that. I’d love to hear back if you end up contacting them!
Regards,
Joe
Being a person of technical foresight, this is the really the best way to adopt into a hybrid . Persons can drive what they like and have them modified. Kudos…
İ am intersted with your product , how Much it coast to buy a full system with four wheel drive ,
Hi I am looking for a kit to install two rear wheel motors on my 2015 sonata limited. Is this. In your near future? Thiswould creatg a high performance. Vehicle from a very nice car. Regards. Sam bronsteim
Hi Sam. Best to contact the company directly! Would love to hear how that turns out for you.
Let’s get something going..need more info..
Dear sir/madam
My name is Jeremia Nanguwo, I am a researcher at the Innovation Design Lab a department at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.
We are designing a Solar-Electric Vehicle and we would like to find out the price of your In-Wheel motors for small vehicles 2.5 kW- 3 kW motors in each wheel (2 wheels).
Can you provide me with a full quotation in this regard.
Kindly follow the link below so you can see our work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzM9qz7obIQ
I am very impressed by such technology. This will change the world. I wold love to represent your Co. and products in Romania.
I ike to know haw can I purchase electric motors for my Mercedes S 320 cdi. 2004. Where can I have it installed on my car. I appreciate your response. Lawrence B.
Hi Lawrence. If you’re in Romania, we visited Hoia Baciu Forest near Cluj-Napoca this year. Lovely place!
Per your inquiry, best to contact the company directly!
It would be nice to have a hybrid system aftermarket upgrade for FWD vehicles for enhanced mileage via plug & play interface with OEM engine / transmission management systems. Maybe for $7,000 I could add this to my new Honda Odyssey to increase combined driving range to 30 plus city as well as improve highway mileage in varied terrain.
When will you have installers in the USA that can take your tech and add to our current gas engine rear drive vehicles. I have wanted AWD with Front motor EV for years. What can I do to grip this happen sooner?
This tech is provided by a company we’ve written about. Seems unlikely they will start retrofitting gas-powered vehicles with EV motors.