Car Wheels Have Separate Motors (Apr, 1933)
Car Wheels Have Separate Motors
GERMAN automotive engineers have come out with a car which merits especial attention because of its unusual frontwheel drive. Each front wheel runs on its own axle and is powered by an individual motor. Far greater flexibility is thus provided especially on rough ground.
Another great advantage to this type of construction, engineers claim, is that a lower center of gravity is permitted, giving the car increased stability, speed, and an improved general appearance.
A clear idea of the construction of the bus will be gained from close inspection of the phantom view of the body below.
I’m sure this is a misunderstanding by the writer. This looks like an Adler, and it only had one motor and a front wheel drive much like cars today do.
Ferdinand Porsche designed a car in 1901 that used batteries and a generator to power four separate electric motors in the wheel hubs.
http://en.wikipedia.org…
One wonders what’s under the rest of the hood.
What do you suppose the two long shafts with what looks like pedals are.
They are sticking our the passenger side of the hood (horizontally).
Maybe to carry a stretcher in wartime?
Hey Roger:
The “two long shafts” which you wrote are “sticking our the passenger side of the hood” are actually the chassis members as shown in this “phantom” or “see-through” type of pictorial illustration.
From the photo/illustration, it’s almost impossible to work out if the writer got it wrong (Perhaps something lost in translation from German?) or that it really does have two engines driving the front wheels separately.
A 1960s era Popular Science described an electric car where each wheel had an electric motor which also acted as brakes.
Something like the Lunar Rover!