BMW is co-developing a radical new in-wheel electric motor technology

BMW is testing a new type of in-wheel electric motor technology which features dual rotors and could be used to improve the efficiency and range of its electric cars. With further tests set to be carried out in the coming months, let’s start with a quick breakdown of how the system works. Don't worry, you don't need a physics degree to understand it, either.

It’s been built by Munich-based tech brand DeepDrive, which created a compact solution where two electric motors can be merged into one. The trick here is that, while conventional electric motors move either the internal or external rotor, DeepDrive’s creation can move both simultaneously. Result? Better performance and economy… supposedly.

And, in case you missed it, this solution is small enough to attach in-wheel… so you could have as many as four of them spinning around and sending drive to each corner of the car. Unless you’ve thrown the tech into a Reliant Robin.

Initial simulation tests have shown the technology is both compatible and improves on what BMW’s boffins are currently able to make. A slight pie-in-face moment, that, given just how much more well-funded Bavaria’s finest lab coats are in comparison to the relatively small-scale group at DeepDrive.

With BMW now preparing a fleet of production cars with DeepDrive’s in-wheel motors equipped, successful testing could be game-changing for the electric car space, provided the Hyundai-Kia ‘Uni Wheel’ doesn’t get there first.