UPDATE: Five years later.......................
Go to just after the 1:00 mark, Protean will now be made in Canada by a legitimate automotive supplier.
I have no idea who their intended customers are.
I first discovered this news here:
Autoline - Automotive news, reviews, and auto industry analysis
More below:
01.Nov.18 PRESS RELEASE
Linamar Corporation and Protean Electric agree North American Manufacturing Partnership
https://www.proteanelectric.com/lina...g-partnership/
Quote:
01.Nov.18
Linamar Corporation and Protean Electric agree North American Manufacturing Partnership
Guelph, Canada and London, UK. Protean Electric, the automotive technology company and world leader of in-wheel electric drive systems, and Linamar Corporation, the diversified global manufacturing company, are pleased to announce that Linamar has become the manufacturing partner for ProteanDrive in key growth segments globally.
The agreement covers the full range of ProteanDrive models, with Linamar providing manufacturing capacity to support market opportunities in all passenger car and commercial vehicle segments for North American OEMs Worldwide. Protean will provide the technology and product validation expertise for the full product lifecycle, enabling Linamar to manufacture and sell ProteanDrive using its existing supply chains, manufacturing facilities and customer relationships.
“We are excited about this new partnership with Protean for in-wheel drive systems. Protean has developed excellent technology we think will revolutionize the drive of electric vehicles in the future,” said Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz.
“I am delighted that Linamar have agreed to partner with us. Their expertise and reputation for manufacturing highly engineered components at scale makes them the perfect partner. This agreement allows Linamar and Protean Electric to focus on their independent strengths to give customers far better access to our technology at competitive pricing,” said KY Chan, CEO and Chairman of Protean Electric................................
The Company’s Skyjack and MacDon companies are noted for their innovative, high quality mobile industrial and harvesting equipment, notably class-leading aerial work platforms, telehandlers, draper headers and self-propelled windrowers.
Linamar has more than 28,700 employees in 60 manufacturing locations, 8 R&D centers and 25 sales offices in 17 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia which generated sales of $6.5 billion in 2017. ..............
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The things I've learned about sprung mass and torque in the last five years and studying one product out of Australia for RIB's with self trailering wheels (Sealegs) has me questioning my original enthusiasm for this engineering approach.
The Sealegs story is pretty simple, prototypes were simple waterproof electric hub motors for launching small boats. They hit a wall of some kind, I assume the torque and lack of gearing issue, then went with a pump motor to hydrostatically drive the wheels.
This approach had been proposed and used in several flying car projects featured in Popular Science and Popular Mechanics going back decades.
Even more:
Linamar Corporation and Protean Electric agree North American Manufacturing Partnership
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...North-American
Quote:
Protean Electric is an automotive technology firm. As the world leader of in-wheel motor technology, they provide a stand-alone electric drive solution with software that enables digital vehicle control and enhances customization.
Using a scalable and patented sub-motor architecture, our current Pd18 model fits inside an 18” wheel rim, providing the power and torque required to propel hybrid and electric vehicles from C-segment all the way to light commercial categories.
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If I were to guess, the self driving electric city cars from Apple (icar?) and or Google along with some light/mid weight city freight trucks might be customers.
Any other guesses?
I'm just recalling some of the self-driving autonomous boxes with no front, no back that are all cabin volume. Electric taxis if you will.
It is hard to imagine one size fitting cars, commercial trucks and little ATV's.
Sounds like two sizes to start with, what would you be able to do with four Pd18's or Pd16's?
https://www.proteanelectric.com/protean-drive/#benefits
Quote:
Vehicle Weight
Pd18
Vehicles <4,500 kg / 10,000 lb
Pd16
Vehicles <3,200 kg / 7,050 lb
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How about 6-wheel drive?
And eight wheel drive?
EDIT:
From that last link above, many of my earlier guesses are either verified or shot down. Just scroll down to the bottom to see Local Motors "Olli" self driving box/shuttle.
Customer List:
VW
Local Motors
Storm Sondors
Ford (F-150)
Mercedes Benz