Oxfordshire-based Saietta Group’s AFT 140 electric motor technology has demonstrated the potential of its in-wheel motor variants for lightweight electric vehicles (EVs) operating in city centres around the world.

Mega-cities globally are evolving rapidly. Large internal combustion engine vehicles are progressively being banned from city centres but people and cargo still need to move around, commerce has to continue and refuse must be collected.

Saietta believes that a new generation of EVs is required for inner cities and that electric smart mobility platforms are part of the solution. These platforms can be cost effectively mated to multiple ‘hats’ for vehicles acting as people carriers, last mile e-commerce delivery, mobile shops, refuse collection and inner city autonomous pods.

Moving the powertrain fully into the wheels creates a perfectly flat floor with minimal intrusion into the rectangular platform. This maximises the usable space above the chassis for the primary purpose of the vehicle such as transporting people or cargo, selling products in a mobile shop or collecting refuse.

Smart mobility platform manufacturers typically position the motors outboard but not in-wheel. The circular ‘pancake’ shape of Saietta’s AFT motors is an ideal fit to be placed fully in-wheel.

The motors have also been engineered to deliver the power and torque required at low voltage, making them a significantly safer solution than using high voltage alternatives.

In-wheel motors also reduce parts and drivetrain complexity, offering a lightweight and cost-efficient path to vehicle electrification, eliminating heavy, intricate and expensive components that are often found in other electric drive systems.

Typically, these types of urban mobility applications travel at low speeds in stop-start inner city traffic. Saietta’s lightweight and compact AFT electric motors are a good match when placed in-wheel for this relatively undemanding congested city centre usage.

The AFT 140 motors have also been designed to deliver high efficiency on urban journeys meaning vehicles go further on a single charge.

Located at the four corners of a platform, the AFT in-wheel electric motors provide excellent manoeuvrability, flexibility, modularity and four-wheel drive capability. The Saietta technology is also effective at regenerative braking, which puts energy back into the battery pack, thereby extending the range on a single charge.

Wicher Kist, Saietta Group CEO, said: “Saietta is all about high-tech, real-world, application-ready electric drive technology. We continue to strive to create electric drive solutions for vehicle manufacturers around the world and this in-wheel motor variant for smart mobility platforms is another example of our progress.

“We are not intending to become a platform manufacturer and only developed a chassis to demonstrate the power of our in-wheel motor innovation. We want to work with platform developers, complementing rather than competing with their innovation.

“Ultimately we believe that inner city EVS will be fully autonomous and our in-wheel motor technology can play an important role in this market.”

“Now is the time to have a serious industry discussion about the potential of in-wheel electric motors in making congested cities centres quieter and cleaner spaces.”