Hyundai reinvents the wheel with 'groundbreaking' powertrain design

Industry

Published: 28 Nov. 2023, 15:18

Hyundai reinvents the wheel with 'groundbreaking' powertrain design

Park Jong-sool, left, a senior fellow at Hyundai Motor Group’s Institute of Advanced Technology Development, speaks to the press on Tuesday in central Seoul. Hyundai Motor introduced the Universal Wheel Drive System, dubbed UNI Wheel, in a press conference that day. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Liberating the space once occupied by mechanical components — motors, drive shaft, gear reducer and more — opens up a new, unobstructed area on an electric powertrain.

Building up from this expansive canvas, possibilities are endless, says Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai Motor on Tuesday introduced a new wheel drive system concept for the electric powertrain, which the carmaker describes to be a groundbreaking design that enables a significantly larger interior space for EVs.

The Universal Wheel Drive System, dubbed UNI Wheel, integrates conventional components of powertrains into a wheel, and places electric motors near the wheels to enable a more spacious, flat floor.

This means that the space where powertrain components such as gear reducer, drive shaft and constant-velocity joints are placed can be utilized to increase car luggage space or put extra batteries to extend the driving range.

Miniature mock-ups of Hyundai Motor's eGMP platform for EVs, left, and the newly-introduced Universal Wheel Drive System (UNI Wheel), right, are displayed in central Seoul on Tuesday. The UNI Wheel integrates powertrain components into a wheel to free up extra spaces. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

“On Hyundai Motor’s e-GMP platform, the electric powertrain takes up a significant space between the wheels on each side,” said Park Jong-sool, a senior fellow at Hyundai Motor Group’s Institute of Advanced Technology Development, during a press conference held on Tuesday in central Seoul.

“Though the traditional combustion engines have been replaced with electric motors, the mechanical components from a gear reducer to the wheel are the same — we have taken for granted this large space to be left unutilized so far,” said Park.

The primary goal of the team, which was launched two years ago, was to move things around on the electric powertrain platform to free up extra space between the wheels, the senior fellow explained.

As the UNI Wheel system enables a flat-floor platform, the technology is expected to ensure greater flexibility and applicability in designing various types of car bodies for purpose-built vehicles (PBVs).

According to Park, the UNI Wheel system is tentatively estimated to provide about 40-litre additional space for luggage compared to the current e-GMP platform, which can also be used to increase driving range by 10 to 20 percent by installing battery cells.

Moreover, the extra area between the wheels can also enable a more spacious cabin area for passengers.

The next goal is to utilize the system to build a mobility device that can climb stairs, as the rotation axis of the wheel moves with the UNI Wheel design.

Hyundai Motor has filed patent applications for the UNI Wheel technology in eight countries including Korea and the United States.

As the system is still undergoing examination as a prototype, a specific timeline for its commercial deployment has not yet been set, according to the carmaker.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]