Single wheel drive

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In the case of single-wheel drive, one or more wheels of a motor vehicle each have a separate drive in or on the wheel itself. Single-wheel drive is usually only used for vehicles with three or more wheels, but not for single-track vehicles.

Single wheel drives can be implemented with internal combustion engines, but mostly electric motors are used. The design of the hub motor is by definition a single wheel drive .

The advantage of the single wheel drive is, among other things, that

  • a differential gear can be dispensed with,
  • The driving stability can be influenced via the distribution of the drive power,
  • the power transmission (via transfer case ) to several wheels is omitted,
  • a traction control can be performed without braking,
  • By dispensing with the distributing drive train, space and design freedom is gained for the vehicle.

In single-axle vehicles (for example the Segway Personal Transporter ), the individual wheel drives are also used for steering .

Examples

Individual wheel drives are increasingly being used in electric vehicles, as advances in engine development allow electric motors to be made smaller and more powerful. In particular, improved magnetic materials play a role here, which allow a high torque and thus often make a reduction gear superfluous.

The deadbearing drive in rail vehicles is a drive for one axle and is therefore not referred to as a single wheel drive. In the case of rail vehicles, a differential gear can be dispensed with due to the large curve radii, but single-axle drives also make it possible to dispense with a transfer case, allow traction control and power distribution to several wheels.

Advantages and disadvantages

  • Individual wheel drives cause the (unsprung) wheels to have a higher mass (exception: pawl bearing drive).
  • Single wheel drive is often more expensive than a central drive with transfer cases.
  • The motors of single wheel drives are cooled by the airflow.
  • In the case of single-wheel drive, not only regenerative braking can take place, but braking can also include an anti-lock function through appropriate control .