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The drivetrain of the auto has principally gone unchanged since its inception. A motor sends energy to a transmission (in inside combustion engine purposes) or discount gears (in electrical motor purposes). That energy is then despatched via fixed velocity (CV) joints and a drive shaft to energy the wheels.
Hyundai desires to realize extra inside house in EV purposes by taking out the CV joints, shortening the drive shafts, and with the ability to make the motors smaller and positioned straight at every nook of the automobile. They plan to do that with the Uni Wheel.
Hyundai Uni Wheel
The Common Wheel Drive System (Uni Wheel) simply debuted at Uni Wheel Tech Day in Seoul, South Korea.
Uni Wheel strikes an EV’s discount gears contained in the vacant house contained in the wheel hub. This, mixed with having small electrical drive motors positioned simply inside every wheel, permits for very diminished drive shaft lengths and no want for CV joints on the drive shaft.
This video explains it higher than I ever may.
In Hyundai’s phrases: “Uni Wheel makes use of a particular planetary gear configuration consisting of a solar gear within the middle, 4 pinion gears on both sides, and a hoop gear surrounding this association. Energy generated by the motor is transmitted to the solar gear, which in flip engages the pinion gears to rotate the ring gear. That is related to the wheel to drive the automobile.”
All of this has been carried out particularly to unlock house for individuals and cargo in EVs. Different advantages Hyundai that touts are a better driving vary, the power to make use of smaller electrical motors, and due to the Uni Wheel’s excessive discount ratio, it might probably ship a “important torque output.”
Wheel Articulation With out CVs
The pinion gears within the Uni Wheel design are related to type two linkages. This multi-link mechanism permits the wheel to articulate on its suspension, with out using CV joints.
This setup ought to present higher sturdiness and effectivity. In conventional drive techniques, the CV joint angle adjustments because the tire goes over bumpy terrain. The extra extreme the CV angle, the much less environment friendly it’s at transmitting energy and the extra inclined it’s to failure. Hyundai says that the “Uni Wheel can transmit energy with virtually no change to effectivity no matter wheel motion.”
Potential Points
The one actual crimson flags I see with this design are the restricted wheel journey that it’s going to permit and the rise in sprung mass. The restricted wheel journey will exclude this tech from engaged on off-road automobiles. The heavier sprung mass implies that the shocks/dampers will probably be required to do extra work and can overheat quicker.
Cooling of this mechanism contained in the wheel hub could possibly be a problem as effectively. And, the entire setup may require extra upkeep than the tried and true drivetrain used throughout the board as we speak.
Hyundai Uni Wheel in Manufacturing Functions
No timeline was given as to after we would possibly see this new Uni Wheel tech on manufacturing merchandise, however it has far-reaching purposes. Hyundai and Kia have registered eight patents associated to the Uni Wheel in South Korea, Europe, and the U.S.
The 2 firms, that are carefully working collectively on all types of recent tech, say they’re “constantly verifying the steadiness, effectivity, and sturdiness of Uni Wheel via varied assessments to excellent its growth and can proceed efforts to enhance its effectivity by adjusting the discount gear ratio, and upgrading the lubrication and cooling system.”
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