Article about funding and making them in China.
Protean Electric snags $84 million to produce in-wheel motors in China
Video in link above is worth watching.
Company website:
Protean Electric
I first saw an image in a car forum and looked it up, which first brought me to this short article below.
2013 10Best 10 Most Promising Technologies – Feature – Car and Driver
Quote:
WHEELING AND DEALING
Ferdinand Porsche’s idea of building a hybrid’s electric motors into the wheel hubs leaves more space for passengers and batteries, but carmakers have hesitated to adopt this arrangement, fearing that major increases in unsprung weight will harm rough-road ride and handling. Challenging that assumption, Protean Electric contracted with Lotus Engineering to conduct extensive tests *comparing a standard sedan with one propelled by wheel-hub motors. Lotus’s surprising conclusions: Average drivers won’t notice the performance degradation attributable to extra unsprung weight, and normal development tuning should overcome most steering, ride, and handling ill effects. Protean expects to start wheel-hub-motor production in 2014.
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