Mitsubishi lithium-ion batteries powering in-wheel motors

Mitsubishi announced it would build an electric car -- using a system of lithium-ion batteries powering in-wheel motors -- by 2010, simultaneously showing off its Colt EV test vehicle and implying it would still be in business after 2007. Today, a more confident Mitsu announced it had built its second test vehicle, a Lancer Evo, to examinine a four-wheel-drive application of its in-wheel system. At base, the the Lancer Evolution MIEV is a gutted Evo IX, with motors mounted on all four wheels and a system of lithium-ion batteries under the floor to provide juice. The MIEV, which the company has entered in Japan's Shikoku EV Rally to be held on August 27 and 28, has a top speed of 112 and can go 155 miles on a charge.

The MIEV's drive motors are mounted inside each wheel using an outer-rotor design, in which the rotor (the spinning part) rotates around a stator (the coiled copper part) that's placed inside the wheel, a configuration the company says raises power output and torque and eliminates the need for a speed reducer -- a transmission system in many electric motors that regulates drive speed. The motors spin at a maximum of 1500rpms and provide a constant 382ft/lbs of torque.