After Gutenberg

Uh-oh, another acronym to remember and this one is proprietary.

Green Car Congress informs us about MIEV (Mitsubishi In-wheel motor Electric Vehicle).

The new in-wheel motor uses a hollow doughnut construction that locates the rotor outside the stator as opposed to a common electric motor where the rotor turns inside the stator. (GCC observes that the design seems similar to the Wavecrest Adaptive Motor System. It also may be indicative of a new direction in automotive design: orbital, hubless wheels.)

Mitsubishi points to several benefits from this design for the in-wheel motor:

• Greater ease of raising power output and torque
• Higher torque allows the speed reducer unit to be eliminated, meaning less weight and improved power transmission efficiency
• Better space efficiency with the brake assembly fitting inside the motor which itself fits neatly within the wheel house
• The outer-rotor arrangement also surmounts the difficulties presented to date by the steering system, making it suitable for fitting to and driving the front wheels?€”and facilitating 4WD in-wheel motor vehicles.

The 4WD MIEV also is a BEV. In other words, this is a plug-in, totally electric vehicle that runs on batteries, specifically, these Mitsubishi four wheel drive (4WD) battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will use very advanced, Li Ion batteries.

According to an earlier GCC story, Mitsubishi has been testing Li Ion batteries in their EV since 1996.

Mitsubishi Motors has already built several test vehicles using lithium-ion battery systems, including the Mitsubishi HEV in 1996, the FTO-EV in 1998 and the Eclipse EV in 2000. The FTO-EV set a multiple-charge 24-hour distance world record on a proving ground, while the Eclipse EV covered over 400 km on public roads on a single battery charge.

Note: Such history also answers an earlier question that I posted. Toyota may be hedging; it looks as if we definitely can put Mitsubishi in the positive plug-in column along with DaimlerChrysler.

The fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is the only EV with a more advanced energy storage system than Li Ion or lithium polymer batteries.

GCC also related an announcement by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. They have discovered a way to improve polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells

Simpler in design, they are less expensive and able to run at high enough temperatures to be more efficient). “Triazole will greatly reduce many of the problems that have prevented polymer fuel cells from making their way into… cars,” said Dr. Meilin Liu.