Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design • Hacker News Board

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#181

Post by IlPeach » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 9:51 AM UTC

nradov wrote: post #21

IlPeach wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why station wagons and vans exist. SUVs do not provide more space, they just occupy more (on top of being dangerous to others)

Large station wagons no longer exist in the US market. The biggest one remaining is probably the Volvo V90, which is a nice car but can barely fit 5 people, and if you put a dog in the back then there's no room for cargo. It's also too expensive for most families; several large SUVs are actually cheaper. Minivans are a good option for some families. But they suck for towing trailers, and the ground clearance is terri…

This sounds like a very US related problem that is unfortunately expanding to Europe due to car manufacturers marketing strategy.

I still find it crazy that no station wagon exists other than Volvo.. like Audi does not export their A4/A6/A8 estate version? Skoda, Mitsubishi, Toyota neither?

I can understand if you live in an area where roads are not well maintained or mostly dirt, SUV is really alluring. But for city driving is a massive (literally) problem for everyone.

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#182

Post by cf100clunk » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #177

tomcam wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That Luka has some pretty interesting tech and is so sharp-looking. I hope it's a massive success.

Gorgeous little car! Reminds me of the sports cars of the 50's and 60's. But they apparently dropped the hub motors.

The height of that little sports car reminded me of the ultra-low-height 1960s Lotus Europa (first version) - one didn't so much exit it as roll outwards from it.

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#183

Post by manonthewall » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 7:29 PM UTC

esaym wrote: post #152

mulmen wrote: post #48

How do they keep this clean? A CV boot is compact, flexible, and fixed to the shaft. What kind of dust shield can cover the big vertical gap and handle a spinning shaft?

Yea I don't see how this will work. Just a little bit of sand or water in there and it is a goner.

[dead]

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#184

Post by nuancebydefault » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 8:30 PM UTC

I would assume all these gears have friction and need oil or greese. Will that alone not drain quite some energy? I was always under the impression that since EV's have a motor per active wheel, the motor would be directly on the center of the wheel and the electrical wiring would move instead, but apparently not. Would that not be the ultimate solution?

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#185

Post by julienfr112 » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 8:54 PM UTC

nuancebydefault wrote: post #184

I would assume all these gears have friction and need oil or greese. Will that alone not drain quite some energy? I was always under the impression that since EV's have a motor per active wheel, the motor would be directly on the center of the wheel and the electrical wiring would move instead, but apparently not. Would that not be the ultimate solution?

the problem is you want the weight to be after the suspension, not before, so that the unsuspended weight is minimal. Putting the motor inside the wheel make that not possible, and motors are quite heavy, even electrical ones.

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#186

Post by nuancebydefault » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 9:14 PM UTC

julienfr112 wrote: post #185

nuancebydefault wrote: post #184

I would assume all these gears have friction and need oil or greese. Will that alone not drain quite some energy? I was always under the impression that since EV's have a motor per active wheel, the motor would be directly on the center of the wheel and the electrical wiring would move instead, but apparently not. Would that not be the ultimate solution?

the problem is you want the weight to be after the suspension, not before, so that the unsuspended weight is minimal. Putting the motor inside the wheel make that not possible, and motors are quite heavy, even electrical ones.

I believe that makes sense since there is a lot of alternating upward and downward acceleration on the wheels while following irregularities of the road. I guess the resulting constant change of momentum would be bad for stability of the suspended part, and would wear out the suspension faster.

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#187

Post by tomcam » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 9:52 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #177

tomcam wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That Luka has some pretty interesting tech and is so sharp-looking. I hope it's a massive success.

Gorgeous little car! Reminds me of the sports cars of the 50's and 60's. But they apparently dropped the hub motors.

Bummer. Like Mazda’s experiment with the Wankel engine it would have been very cool to see the results

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#188

Post by jacquesm » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 10:53 PM UTC

cf100clunk wrote: post #182

jacquesm wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gorgeous little car! Reminds me of the sports cars of the 50's and 60's. But they apparently dropped the hub motors.

The height of that little sports car reminded me of the ultra-low-height 1960s Lotus Europa (first version) - one didn't so much exit it as roll outwards from it.

I've had a kei-car sized sports car that was a hoot to drive but it felt like putting on gloves just to get in.

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#189

Post by jacquesm » Sat, Dec 02, 2023, 10:54 PM UTC

tomcam wrote: post #187

jacquesm wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gorgeous little car! Reminds me of the sports cars of the 50's and 60's. But they apparently dropped the hub motors.

Bummer. Like Mazda’s experiment with the Wankel engine it would have been very cool to see the results

Well, they did make them. I suspect that the safety concerns were the main issue (less road contact compared to inboard motors).

Re: Hyundai Uni Wheel electric drive system could revolutionize EV design

#190

Post by Tor3 » Sun, Dec 03, 2023, 12:08 PM UTC

zdragnar wrote: post #113

Tor3 wrote: post #111

It looks interesting. But how do you change wheels? From the video there's no obvious way, and I'll assume the wheels must be very expensive - if all we see in the video is built in. Where I live I change wheels twice a year, for winter and summer (vastly different tires, and there's no way around that). So, to start with, I have to buy 8 wheels (9 actually, as my car has a spare wheel too, and that's also necessary…

You could probably get away with changing the tires, rather than replacing the entire wheel. The more interesting question to me is what happens if you get a flat tire? Does everyone need to carry a spare uniwheel, or wait to get towed?

I'm changing the wheels by myself, spring and fall. Changing the tires isn't an option, even for those who don't change by themselves. Around here there are "wheel hotels" where people keep their winter/summer tires, and when the first snow is on the way people are queuing up for the hotels to find their stored wheels and changing them. Hundreds of cars in a few days. Having to actually change the tires would make for a way too slow process (not to mention that my winter tire wheeld use very different wheel rims than my summer tire wheels).

As for flat tires.. the last time that happened to me was a few years ago. Not common these days. Except on some particular roads in the region.. the locals have complained for years that they get flat tires all the time. And that's an island, there are no towing services nearby.