Ford has unveiled a new concept Fiesta passenger car that utilises Schaeffler's innovative electric wheel hub drive system, the E-Wheel Drive. The highly integrated, liquid-cooled wheel hub drive has a total weight of just 53kg and is compact enough to fit inside a 16-inch wheel rim.
The E-Wheel Drive was presented at the recent 'Auto, Motor und Sport' congress in Germany. This novel co-development between Schaeffler and Ford was on display to in a new concept car based on a Ford Fiesta. This compact vehicle is driven by two Schaeffler E-Wheel Drives installed in the rear wheel arches. All components required for drive, deceleration and driving safety - including the electric motor, power electronics, controller, brake and cooling system - are installed inside the wheel rim in the highly integrated wheel hub drive.
The wheel hub drives provide an output of 40kW per drive, with a continuous output of 2 x 33kW, which is equivalent to 110hp and 90hp respectively. The wheel hub drive, now in its second (Beta) stage of development, delivers a torque of up to 700Nm. Compared to the first-generation (Alpha) wheel hub drive - first unveiled in Schaeffler's Vauxhall Corsa-based 'Schaeffler Hybrid' concept car in 2010 - the E-Wheel Drive Beta version offers a 33% higher output, as well as a 75% increase in torque. The electrical voltage of the high-voltage drive is 360-420V.
