This car has no engine, no transmission and no differential: it weighs half of a normal car: each of its four wheels has an electric motor which allows it to contribute to the movement of the vehicle and a rapid change of direction: at current state, however, you need advanced control for the movement or it is really difficult (not to say impossible) to drive it.
Junmin Wang is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Ohio State University, and his team is building and testing the algorithms needed for the on-board computer of a car like this to make it stable, receiving and analyzing data 100 times per second from the wheels, from the pedals and steering to coordinate each element and provide a harmonious and safe movement.
“Without coordinated control it would be impossible to direct such a vehicle,” Wang points out.
With a valid control system (a bit like what happens with smaller and more manageable vehicles, think of the Segway) a car with 4 electric motors in the wheels would be the perfect city car: efficient, manoeuvrable, without emissions.
The work of Wang's team began 4 years ago with the granting of a research grant worth € 350.000 and continues today, with a vehicle weighing 800 kg which guarantees energy efficiency. The 7.5kW motors are powered by a 15kW lithium-ion battery and connected by cable to a central computer. It is not yet possible to know the real autonomy of the vehicle (the team guarantees 8 to 10 hours of driving for a single charge, but the tests so far have not been reliable), and above all the date of a possible marketing.
According to Wang, everything will depend on the improvement of the computational skills and on the improved algorithms: in our opinion we will not see things like this around for 5-10 years, better to be realistic.
