5 ms·
Unsprung weight is a clear disadvantage to the solution. It will significantly affect ride quality, no way around that. Those planetary wheels look more fragile
by trabant00 3y ago
Unsprung weight is a clear disadvantage to the solution. It will significantly affect ride quality, no way around that. Those planetary wheels look more fragile than the traditional solution. You also need to keep that entire thing closed and lubed as well and even so it looks like added friction, wear and a more expensive repair job when it goes bad.
All that being said it could be a good niche solution. A small city car would benefit from the space savings and does not need to go high speeds over less than perfect roads. Nor does it rack up that many miles in wear and tear. In general I think electric will bring more diversity in car designs depending on purpose.
- nixass 3y ago> Unsprung weight is a clear disadvantage to the solution. It will significantly affect ride quality, no way around that. Those planetary wheels look more fragile than the traditional solution. You also need to keep that entire thing closed and lubed as well and even so it looks like added friction, wear and a more expensive repair job when it goes bad. But uni-wheel changes paradigm!
- JoeAltmaier 3y agoAt least they are nine identical gears? So just keep a barrel of them handy!
- bluGill 3y agoI expect the bearings wear out before the gears. So just replace the whole thing. Then rebuild it with new gears and bearings later.