Wheel Hub Motors

So we all know that cars have engines, planes have engines, & pretty much everything that needs to move has an engine, right? Did it ever occur to you that now-a-days, there are actual engines that are separate for the wheels that you see on the street today? I didn't believe it when I first heard it either; but apparently, it is very true. The whole purpose is to help the wheel "drive correctly"; but don't people already do that when they steer the wheel for the actual car?

Even though they were specifically invented for your average electric car, they are mostly found on bicycles; and even buses! How they work, basically, is that the motor that's installed is able to literally turn the wheel without the aid of the transmission. This is possible because it's installed right at the hub of the wheel, which is where the wheel goes round & round. There's an electric current that transfers through a wire that's tightly coiled. This specific wire sits between the poles of a magnet & the coil that aids the rotation of the wheel. This whole system is operated by a battery that can be recharged if it needs to. If a vehicle has this on its wheels, what would be the need for a transmission, right? People with these "devices" see it as something more useful than a transmission because it is more productive & efficient when they are traveling at a high speed.

Although it may seem like this is something new because you've probably never heard of it before, these Hub Motors have actually been around for an estimated century. The first one was, in fact, designed in 1884 by a man named Wellington Adams from St. Louis. It was in the year of 1897 that the Wheel Hub Motor was placed on a car (obviously) that was raced by Ferdinand Porsche. After this happened, the first cars that were manufactured by him were categorized as electronic cars & not as internal combustion based. He placed these Hub Motors on his wheels & had them operate like rechargeable batteries; just like they are today. In 1900, the Lohner Porsche appeared at the World Exhibition with one Wheel Hub Motor on each front wheel. This eventually sparked the "young" automotive world which caused them to be extremely fascinated by this new technology that was available on cars. After this epic moment, 300 of the Lohne Porsche Models were made to be exactly like the one that appeared at the World Exhibition; and you can be sure that the people with money at that time were the first in line to buy these cars.

Porsche eventually discovered that the Wheel Hub Motor can be stronger & more efficient than your regular transmission. This, after some time, led him to build the first ever hybrid car that he would call the "System Mixt." This car set more than enough speed records by having the two hub motors in the front wheels. With this "new" technology, he won "Austria's Automotive Engineering" Prize which, as you can bet, made his career take off.

Since this was such a milestone for the automotive world very early, no one really had the materials nor the brains to pull it off & make it standard on their own cars. Eventually, the gas powered engine & transmission took over, so Ferdinand Porsche never really had a chance to "shine".

Anyway, who would've thought there'd be separate engines for wheels, right? Thank goodness OriginalWheels.com offers you with the rims that can go with that fascinating Wheel Hub Motor of yours; if you so happen to have one.