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https://freedium.cfd/https://medium.com/enrique-dans/as-evs-continue-to-innovate-expect-plenty-of-surprises-7f5415fc7bbc>
"Among the products Hyundai has unveiled at CES in Las Vegas is an innovation
to its Ioniq 5 EV, the Mobis e-Corner System, which allows the wheels to be
positioned completely perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle,
allowing for crab driving, zero turns, diagonal driving, pivot turns, and other
unorthodox maneuvers, controlled by functions from the console and while the
car projects arrows on the pavement to indicate its movements.
Innovation? Depends on your perspective. We have had vehicles with such
features since the Roaring Twenties, a century ago, and they have always been
considered a novelty that never took off. What's the difference today? But now
we're now talking about EVs and can therefore eliminate the transmission,
meaning everything can be done via the wheels: the motor, steering, damping and
braking; as simple as that.
The Hyundai Mobis e-Corner system integrates driving, braking, steering and
suspension systems within each wheel of the vehicle, which allows for a
completely different driving approach. The wheels operate independently without
any mechanical connection to other devices, because the four components of the
in-wheel motor, electric brake, electric steering and shock absorber are
combined: the motor mounted inside the wheel provides power directly, the
electric steering changes the direction, while the electric brakes and shock
absorbers respectively take care of slowing down (the brakes are hardly used in
EVs under normal conditions) do their jobs. Basically, we eliminate the
mechanical linkage between wheel and moving parts, or between wheel and wheel,
allowing possibilities that could not be easily envisaged before.
Don't expect to find something like this in petrol or diesel cars other than
military or concept vehicles, because the complexity of the drivetrain makes it
impractical. When you have to rely on a mid-engine and transmit its motion to
the wheels, the degrees of freedom for the manufacturer diminish appreciably.
As in the past, these features may seem gimmicky, and only caught my attention
for what they mean in terms of greater freedom: when the motor becomes smaller
and simpler, it can be placed on each axle or on each wheel, and delivers all
the torque from the first moment, and opens the door to new possibilities,
offering engineering, if it knows how to take advantage of them, many
opportunities for innovation."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
