Talk about a lateral move.
Ford is developing a new electric car technology that is not just efficient with fuel, but potentially space, as well.
Designed in partnership with auto industry supplier Schaeffler, the eWheelDrive Fiesta prototype is propelled by electric motors located entirely within the wheels of the car, eliminating the need for the drive wheels to be connected to a common drivetrain.
The main advantage of the layout is packaging. While the test vehicle has a large battery installed under the hood of the converted Fiesta, an eWheelDrive vehicle built from the ground-up could use a flat battery pack located in the floor of the car, as in the Tesla Model S, creating more room for passengers within a given footprint.
The motors can also be easily employed in a variety of configurations. The demonstration vehicle, for instance, is rear-wheel-drive even though the production Fiesta it’s based on is front-wheel-drive. Creating an all-wheel-drive car is as relatively simple as adding two more motor-equipped wheels.