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I don't know about bikes, but in electric bicycles engine in the back wheel is much worse for offroad because of weight distribution. The huge, heavy battery th

• throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  And unsprung weight is a much bigger deal when your vehicle actually has to use its suspension, weighs practically nothing, has 2" of sidewall, no contact patch to speak of, rims made out of toothpick, etc, etc. Hub motors just suck for bikes and motorcycles. You can kind of get away with them for driving on really nice surfaces but that all goes out the window for anything even mildly off road.
  • bluejekyll 6y ago
    While there are definitely challenges to in-wheel motors, I do wonder if we’ll see more innovation over time on in-wheel suspension systems to compensate for the unsprung weight. Here’s a neat example for one in a bike wheel [video]: https://youtu.be/DSKDH2NNmcA https://youtu.be/DSKDH2NNmcA Here’s a write-up: https://www.karmanhealthcare.com/acrobat-soft-wheels-shock-absorbing/ https://www.karmanhealthcare.com/acrobat-soft-wheels-shock-a... I’m sure putting a motor in there will be problematic due to stresses on the shock absorbers, but it does seem like sock absorbing spokes in wheels could help gain space in vehicles by moving the motors to the wheel. Edit: just to be clear I know little about the company and tech behind that wheel i linked to, I just find it to be an interesting area, and recently came across that.
    • stickfigure 6y ago
      Neat! But looks like maybe an inch or two of travel? Hard to imagine it would fare well in serious offroad conditions.
      • throwaway0a5e 6y ago
        Every little bit helps but that "wind up" action is going to really suck under acceleration/braking.