In Wheel Electric Motors

There is probably a significant weight advantage with a motor in wheel design. While unsprung weight alone is greater, lower total weight, elimination of driveshaft constraints on suspension and chassis, as well as independant power at each wheel, could offer more advantages...depending on the goals.

I did an all-fields search on Protean Electric on the USPTO search website and it returned no patent hits. So I don't know what patents you might be referring to, but I can think of a couple of reasons for patenting a design like this. 1. Some other company already owns patents for a design with the motors inboard. 2. There may be some other feature, such a regenerative braking, that yields a better overall design when the motors are mounted on the wheels rather than inboard.

You're right, unsprung weight is a huge issue, as is low torque.

The several demo vehicles that have been shown in the last few years (Ford F150, BMW Mini, Volvo) use wheel motors on all four wheels to get acceptable torque. One motor is hideously expensive, 4 are astronomical.

The motors would need to be a small fraction of projected cost and about half the weight to be viable.

You don't hear people saying "I'd buy a LEAF if it just cost a lot more and had motors in its wheels." The motor is not the problem.

If the LEAF were less expensive and had greater range it would sell better. Wheel motors will not reduce cost and will not increase range more than perhaps 4%.

An electric wheel motor may be sort of "inside out" (stator in, rotor out) compared to a typical motor. I would guess that efficiency would be less, but don't know.

Gosh, somebody bought a patent on in-wheel electric motors? Porsche was using them for low-speed work 90 years ago. I wouldn't use them on anything with the least pretense to sophistication.

Even if there was a prior patent, it would have expired in 17 (?) years. A patent is generally granted if the invention is unique, novel and useful, so prior technology would exclude a patent for this concept.

Now, design a light weight motor that can withstand the shock & vibration of in wheel environments and that would be an enhancement worth patenting. (would not be surprised to see something of that sort being worked on)

A patent doesn't mean it's a good idea - or works - or is practical - or is economic.

In this case such a patent would be about 'improvements' to the prior art.

One obvious one, being that of mass to produce a given torque (at low rpm) - though such is largely demonstrated in the F&P "Smart drive" washing machine - 'application' to 'traction' might be considered 'novel' in the vagaries of the patent system.

Citroen had inboard disc brakes on their FWD ID19, etc. Worked very well. Very soft but tight ride, cornered like a bandit on rough surfaces. I believe they used Rzeppa universals, also.

Citroen also had inboard disks for the handbrake on the GS, GSA, and this layout prompted the thought that you could have your independent electric motors inboard with a similar set of drive shafts to the wheels.

The Seimens Co. came out with a design for in-wheel electric motors about three years ago. You might want to have a look at their design. Looks like it might be easy to replace if damaged.

Dragon

The cost of powerful electric motors is going to be expensive, due in part to the cost of the copper needed. In other auto motive uses. Low power high speed electric motors with gear reducers are becoming more common. Examples are starter motors, power window motors, power door lock motors and HVAC door motors. 3,4, or more small high speed motors geared as planetary gear-sets might be workable.