Design of Efficient In-Wheel Motor for Electric Vehicles

This research paper deals with the design and development of an in-wheel motor for electric vehicles. The proposed motor generates a 350-watt power drive with a power source of two 12V batteries. The batteries are connected in series to increase the voltage to 24 volts and 18.23 A. The in-wheel motor is based on the principle of a DC electric motor to drive the vehicle wheels so that the mechanical components of the transmission and the energy loss are minimized. The proposed in-wheel motor has 46 poles, 51 slots and 51 teeth. In addition, the method lowers the maintenance cost. This research work assumes the maximum weight of 70 kg and the running speed of 20 km/hr. The experiment results show that the output power and efficiency of the in-wheel motor are subject to the variation in input power given that the input voltage remains constant at 25.41 volts. The maximum efficiency of the in-wheel motor of 82.56% is achieved at 2.5 N-m torque. The maximum torque of 6.25 N-m is achieved with the input power of 348.76 watts. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd.