Recently, BMW and DeepDrive announced a collaboration to test a "revolutionary" new electric motor with dual-rotor technology. According to BMW, this technology will pave the way for the development of high-efficiency electric vehicles.
While the parties did not give too many specifics, they said the road test builds on a previously successful pilot project that has already shown encouraging results. As part of this collaboration, several versions of the new drive unit will be installed in BMW Group models for testing.
Although BMW did not release specific performance figures, they mentioned that DeepDrive's technology effectively fuses two electric motors into a single unit, forming an extremely compact drive system that is both energy-efficient and has high torque density. In conventional electric motors, the stator drives either an internal or external rotor, while the stator of a DeepDrive is capable of driving both rotors at the same time.
BMW further explained that this compact design and lightweight unit allows for an in-wheel motor system, i.e. each wheel has a separate motor within the hub. This technology can also be used in conventional centralized drive systems, where a central motor block drives the entire vehicle.
While the specifics are yet to be known, BMW doesn't hide their ambitions. They say the in-wheel motor will take up less space, be more energy-efficient, weigh less and cost less, making it an attractive option for a wide range of vehicle models with high scalability. This sounds like a perfect combination, but it's time to see if it will actually come to fruition.
In addition, a prototype of the Neue Klasse coupe was photographed earlier this month. The car is rumored to be a low-volume sports car and could be equipped with a motor supplied by DeepDrive. Photographers noticed that the prototype lacked brake calipers and that its silver wheel motors were clearly visible behind the black wheels.
The discovery seems to validate rumors about a collaboration between BMW and DeepDrive that the prototype may already be equipped with the latest electric motor technology. This means that future BMW models are likely to feature more compact and efficient electric drive systems, bringing new breakthroughs to the electric vehicle market.