History with two front-wheel hub motors Among those who were awarded patents: Wellington Adams of St. Louis in 1884; Edward Parkhurst of Woburn in 1890; Albert Parcelle later in 1890; Charles Theryc in 1896, who cites no transmission losses thanks to an absence of classic transmission rods from engines to wheels; C F Goddard in 1896 who cites a piston hub motor for horseless carriages powered by expanding gas of some kind; and W C Smith in 1897 who cites an explosive gas expansion motor inside a wheel hub that utilized cams on a track in the hub to transmit power to the wheel. An electric wheel hub motor car was raced by
Ferdinand Porsche in 1897 in
Vienna, Austria. He developed his first cars as electric cars with electric wheel hub motors that ran on batteries. A racecar by
Lohner–Porsche fitted with four wheel-hub motors debuted at the
World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. Alongside it a commercial model was introduced, the Lohner–Porsche Chaise, with two front wheel-hub motors. It was well-received, and several models based on its design were produced by Lohner and other manufacturers until the 1920s.
Design Hub motors may be implemented with
direct-drive or
planetary gears. They rotate the wheel either through an
axial,
inrunner, or
outrunner rotor design, with either brushed or
brushless commutator design. Hub motors are attractive from a design standpoint because of their flexibility. They can be used for front-, rear-, or
individual-wheel drive. They are compact and hence allow for more room for passengers, cargo, or other vehicle components. They allow for better weight distribution compared to a single motor, and they eliminate the need for many of the drive components in traditional vehicles like transmissions, differentials, and axles, which reduces wear and mechanical losses.
Protean Electric and
Lotus found that most negative effects of added unsprung mass could be eliminated by adding suspension damping, and that the ability to utilize accurate torque vectoring actually improved car's handling so much that the net effect of the whole arrangement was positive. Without being supported by the suspension's shock absorbers, in-wheel motors are themselves less shielded both from shocks and debris, reducing their durability. Some designs reduce unsprung weight by reducing the weight of the motor, for example by using a
coreless design or
Litz wire coil windings. These weight-saving designs may have a negative effect on motor durability.
Near-wheel motors with four near-wheel motors which share the advantages of in-wheel motors while avoiding issues of unsprung weight and wear Similar to
in-wheel motors, electric vehicles can be designed with
near-wheel motors, sometimes called wheel-end motors. This design shares the same advantages as in-wheel motors while avoiding unsprung weight and wear issues, as the motors are near the wheels but inside the chassis, supported by the suspension. Near-wheel motors are less compact than in-wheel motors, but as of 2022 they are more reliable and more cost-effective, they avoid the risks associated with out-of-chassis high-voltage components, The 100 kW 3-in-1 wheel-end drive unit was planned for the
REE Automotive vehicle product line. Production was planned for 2025 but it was halted after REE couldn't secure major automaker partners or large institutional buyers.
Concept cars An early modern
concept car utilizing electric hub motors was the IZA, presented in at the
IEEE conference in 1997, built with four motors. Other concept cars presented at auto shows include:
Chevrolet Sequel, 2005;
Mitsubishi MIEV, 2005;
Hi-Pa Drive Mini QED, 2006;
Honda FCX concept, 2005;
Citroën C-Métisse, 2006;
Protean Electric Ford F-150, 2008;
Heuliez WILL using the Michelin
Active Wheel suspension, 2008;
Peugeot BB1, 2009;
Hiriko Fold, shown in 2012, a folding
urban car with a maximum speed of with a motor, steering actuators, suspension, and brake integrated into each wheel, controlled with a
drive-by-wire system; FlatFormer, a concept 6x6 autonomous truck chassis, shown in 2019; various vehicles by Indigo Technologies since 2019; though the 2024 Aptera prototypes did not feature in-wheel motors; and
Italdesign Quintessenza with Elaphe Sonic in-wheel motors in 2025. Concept cars that were announced without publicly presenting a physical model include:
Siemens VDO eCorner concept, 2006; and
ZAP-X, 2007.
Production vehicles Production vehicles with in-wheel motors include: •
Lohner–Porsche Chaise, Mixte, and others. Several models based on this design were produced by Lohner and other manufacturers in the early 1900s. briefly produced in 2022 before its manufacturer filed for bankruptcy. •
Lordstown Endurance with Elaphe in-wheel motors, briefly produced in 2022 before its manufacturer filed for bankruptcy. Planned production vehicles include: •
BMW Neue Klasse, planned for production in 2026 with in-wheel motors developed by DeepDrive. •
Renault 5 Turbo 3E, planned for production in 2027 with two 200 kW rear in-wheel motors. ==See also==