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Originally Posted by Red-86
Nice looking car. The motors mounted in the wheel hub is an interesting if odd choice, in terms of it contributing to unsprung mass. Might not matter in an EV sedan where ‘performance’ driving is limited to straight line acceleration runs, but it has to be felt in the corners, no? I’m sure the instant torque vectoring on every wheel helps somewhat.
An interesting point I saw raised was how these compact hub motors could be used to more easily adapt some older ICE cars to functional EVs where normally there is insufficient room in the donor car for batteries + motors in board.
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They do mention the potential issues with unsprung mass, and that they obviously did their best to resolve it with suspension tuning.
You’re right that the design of these hub motors could allow manufacturers to better package EV drivetrains into existing chassis without having to design a different chassis or design multiple chassis like an ICE chassis and skateboard EV chassis . For instance, they could make a Toyota Rav4 ICE, hybrid and EV option, and while a bespoke EV chassis would be lighter and better, this could make EVs cheaper for manufacturers to produce, as they develop out their battery manufacturing.