Ike

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/mo..._evo_miev.html

RevTo9K

That's awesome. The idea of four little electric motors, one for each wheel... and 0-60 in 6.9 ain't a bad start, either.

Mugatu

iTrader: (1)

man that car looks awesome in white.

Renesis_8

Wow thats pretty good! By 2010, we'd have more advanced technology to greatly improve the range, and better electric motors.
________
Vaporizer wiki

saturn

I've heard about this kind of thing for quite some time. I'm impressed to see a car company seriously working on it. It must be very bizarre to have no engine noise and no gears. That's bizarre.

jaii13

Getting your tires stolen here would be a real bitch.

mike1324a

We wont see any real cars like this for a long time. Yeah we will get concepts left and right but i highly doubt we will see any on the road. With car makers, gas companies and government all being in cahoots, it wont happen for a while.

Japan8

OH... you hadn't heard about this before? It was in JDM magazines and maybe the last motorshow last year...

Ike

I had, but I didn't see it posted. I also didn't recall them having any intention of releasing it and it sounds like it may actually happen now.

Clavius

That looks awsome and very impressive. One thing that caught my eye was the 115mph top speed.

Japan8

Really? They are thinking of releasing it? Daaaamn. Now THAT is an electric car worth owning.

Mazmart

iTrader: (12)

Sorry folks,

I have an Automotive News copy from October 23rd which reads:
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is dropping plans for in-wheel motors for it's elelctric vehicle.

Ike

To my knowledge they're not dropping the plan. However, their first electric car will not have that technology as was previously rumored. It will still be called MiEV though.

army_rx8

cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

BaronVonBigmeat

As cool and ultra-simple the in-wheel motors sound, I can't get around the very large unsprung weight that must require. But maybe they could have four motors mounted inboard, each one with it's own output shaft. Not quite as simple as in-wheel motors, but you'd still get to leave out the transmission and differentials and whatnot.

And if you're going that route, why not mount the brakes inboard too for an ultralight suspension. Rotor changes would be more difficult, but then again you'd have regenerative braking so they would surely last longer.

globi

Apart from the unsprung mass electric motors aren't perfect either. They also have an efficiency peak and are not very efficient at low and top speeds (granted some are worse than others). So, having in wheel gearless electric motors is definitely not an ideal set-up in many regards.