McLaren and Elaphe have announced a collaboration that will combine Elaphe’s in-wheel motor technology with McLaren’s racing experience. The collaboration will culminate in the creation of an “in-wheel propulsion system” that will use Elaphe’s in-wheel motors and McLaren Applied Technologies’ inverters to generate extremely efficient and responsive electric vehicles.
The in-wheel motors developed by Elaphe are at the heart of some of the most anticipated super-efficient vehicles, like the impending Aptera. Lightyear claims that it’s Lightyear 0 solar-assisted EV has the most efficient production powertrain in the world, thanks to in-wheel motors. Lordstown Motors will licence Elaphe’s in-wheel motor technology for its Endurance pickup truck in 2020.
Due to constraints such as extra unsprung weight, in-wheel motors have been limited in their applicability, but Elaphe thinks that the integration of McLaren’s racing technology would help extend their appeal. Inverters for Formula One and Formula E, as well as the McLaren P1 plug-in hybrid supercar, have been designed by McLaren Applied Technologies. The powertrain developed in collaboration with Elaphe will utilise McLaren’s latest IPG5 inverter, an 800-volt silicon-carbide unit capable of up to 99% efficiency, with the in-wheel motors itself claiming up to 97% efficiency.
This isn’t the first time racing technology has influenced EV road car development. For several years, Lucid’s battery business Atieva collaborated with McLaren Adapted Technologies to power Formula E racing, and then applied its Formula E battery experience to the Air luxury car.
