Indigo Technologies is a small company from Massachusetts (United States) with a big ambition: to change the way electric cars work, to make them even more efficient. Its founder, Ian Hunter, has designed and built an electric motor that can be inserted directly inside each wheel, allowing to reduce consumption and increase the reliability of the vehicles, thanks to the reduced complexity of the mechanics. As an Economist article recounts, Hunter is not the first to have thought of motorized wheels, but his solution seems to be more promising than the prototypes circulating so far, which have failed to solve some of the technical and practical problems.
The history of the electric car is much older than one might imagine. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the possibility of using electricity to move vehicles had been widely explored, with systems that were state-of-the-art for the time. At the 1900 Paris Exposition, for example, the German engineer Ferdinand Porsche (the founder of the automobile company Porsche) presented a car that had an electric motor built into each of the two front wheels. In this way, Porsche explained, mechanical components such as transmission belts and gears were excluded, making maintenance easier.
The Lohner-Porsche could reach 35 kilometers per hour and had a range of around 50 kilometers. It was powered by lead-acid batteries, not very different from those that are still used in cars today to power their electrical circuits. Like other car manufacturers, Porsche eventually decided to abandon the electric route, relying on internal combustion engines that offered greater autonomy and flexibility.
In the nearly 120 years that followed, however, other manufacturers and designers evaluated the possibility of producing electric cars with motors inserted directly into the wheels, naturally taking advantage of more modern and practical solutions from Lohner-Porsche. Sooner or later everyone had to deal with some complications, which so far have not allowed this technology to spread, or at least to be tested with greater continuity by car manufacturers.
A first problem is that transferring the engine from inside the car to the wheel involves greater exposure to bad weather and external agents. Components must therefore be well insulated to prevent dust and debris from compromising engine operation, or from water causing short circuits. The other problem is related to the fact that the engines weigh down the wheels, increasing the mass of the car that cannot benefit from the presence of the shock absorbers. The heavier wheels mean that the ride is less comfortable for the occupants of the car and that the car itself is more difficult to steer.
These and other obstacles have made it so that electric car manufacturers have so far imitated schemes and concepts already applied for traditional cars. Usually the electric motor is placed in the front or rear part (in some cases there are two motors, one in front and one behind) and is then connected to the wheels, through a system for the transmission of movement and to be able to steer. The amount of mechanical components is enormously less than that of traditional cars, but there are still several things involved that could break.
Indigo says it has solved these problems thanks to T1, its system to be inserted in the wheels and that it is not simply an electric motor. In addition to providing movement, the system includes brakes, an active suspension system and one to steer, minimizing the mechanical components needed to build the car.
Most electrical problems have been solved by employing a motor that runs at 48 volts, compared to the 400 used in most current electric cars. This choice made it possible to make the motor easier to isolate, more resistant and cheaper to produce.
Ian Hunter explained to The Economist that his T1s eliminate the need for a driveshaft (which in traditional cars connects the engine to the wheels), suspension and other rather heavy mechanical components. The weight reduction makes it possible to use motors that consume less, and consequently to install less bulky and heavy batteries. In addition to being easier to manage, they can be recharged faster and also through recharging systems that take advantage of the braking phases. The lower overall mass of the vehicle also reduces the problem of shock absorbers, also thanks to the suspension system inserted in the wheels together with the electric motor.
Indigo has developed several prototypes to test its system obtaining encouraging results, both in terms of autonomy and in terms of safety. Each wheel is in fact independent from the others and can exploit at any moment the power necessary to overcome particular unevenness of the ground, or obstacles. This results in better road holding and greater vehicle stability.
Indigo does not currently have plans to build its own car, but is working with several automotive companies to make its technology solutions known. By the end of the year it could make the first contracts, with the prospect of introducing its engines on self-driving cars.
