Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Tech
Michelin partners with Chinese firm to create Active Wheel system
Click above for more shots of the Michelin Active Wheel and the Ventire Volage
Before Michelin began wrapping halos of rubber around the wheels of our cars, the hoops were made completely from wood -- horse and buggy style. That's what we call a serious innovation, and the French tire maker has got plenty of ideas to keep it at the forefront of rolling technology. The latest bit of high-tech kit revolving out of Michelin's design department is known as the Active Wheel system. Two motors, one to propel the car and another for the integrated suspension system, sit inside the hub and allow the entire drivetrain to fit neatly enclosed at each corner.
This innovative design would potentially allow for an amazingly diverse set of platforms that could be engineered to accept the same set of shoes. Depending on the size of the actual Active Wheels used, the technology could be applied to virtually any type of car. With so much going on in just the rolling-stock, it should come as no surprise that Michelin is looking for partners to help offload some of the rest of the car's design and has just signed an agreement with CITIC Guoan Mengguli Corp. in China. Important bits like the lithium-ion battery development will be carried out in China where test-mules equipped with lithium-powered Active Wheels are already running around city streets.
[Sources: Michelin, Automotive News - sub. req'd]
PRESS RELEASE:
Michelin reinvents the wheel
In 2008, Michelin has reinvented the wheel, enabling the unveiling of two cars at the Paris Motor Show that usher in a totally new era.
In 1895, André and Edouard Michelin, the brothers who founded the Group that bears their name, transformed the car wheel by adding a tyre for the first time. Their innovation endures to this day.
More than a century later, Michelin wants its latest innovation to enjoy the same success as its illustrious predecessor in 1895.
In 2008, the transformation is truly revolutionary-no more engine under the front or rear bonnet, no more traditional suspension system, and no more gearbox or transmission shaft thanks to the Michelin Active Wheel. That's because all essential components have been integrated into the wheel itself. Cars equipped with this integrated solution deliver an array of unique advantages. In a sense, the Michelin Active Wheel is an intelligent wheel capable of propelling cars without gasoline, while ensuring suspension and braking functions and providing unrivalled road handling and comfort.
The Michelin Active Wheel inaugurates a new era in road transportation in which a car's road, safety, energy and environmental performance achieve unprecedented levels. This is because of a miniature drive engine and an electrical suspension system incorporated into the wheel. These technologies developed by Michelin have made it possible to completely rethink the car.
The most advanced illustration of this achievement is the new Venturi Volage, which is being unveiled in a world premiere at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Fitted with the Michelin Active Wheel, the car is a roadster that is well ahead of its time. And with good reason... With its innovative design that is free of all constraints (like the need to house an engine) and its electrical drive motor, the Venturi Volage delivers outstanding road performance, safety and comfort-all in an environmentally friendly vehicle.
The second vehicle-the new WILL-is built through a partnership involving Heuliez, Michelin and Orange. The world's first example of an EV capable of holding its own against traditional cars, this small-size vehicle can be adapted for use as both a passenger car and a utility vehicle. The WILL provides a practical solution to road transportation concerns in the areas of energy resources, urban pollution and personal safety.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Hamud 3:42PM (12/01/2008)
This looks like a great idea.
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MixiM 4:11PM (12/01/2008)
Except for the massive add of unsprung weight?
Caz 5:04PM (12/01/2008)
Hey Michelin-
What ever happened to the 'tweel'?
tekd 4:22AM (12/02/2008)
I don't know why MixiM got so many thumbs ups when his/her post is entirely wrong. Moving the suspension components out to the wheels themselves actually lowers the unsprung weight since the springs are now in the wheels, and thus everything else is being supported by the suspension. In a normal car there's all the stuff from the wheel to the suspension that's added to unsprung weight.
Also, the suspension springs and such obviously can't rotate or they'd be pointless, so there's little to no extra weight being rotated either.
Seriously you guys are ridiculously ignorant if you don't think this is an advancement.
Luke 3:45PM (12/01/2008)
Sounds like a great way for Michelin to grow its market.
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MLT 3:50PM (12/01/2008)
The suspension part reminds me of the Bose Active suspension that never really took off. This seems to be the next evolutionary step in regards to stuffing crap in the wheel.
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John D 5:21PM (12/01/2008)
Idiot, it's not just stuffing extra "crap" in the wheel, it's eliminating all the losses inherent in the drivetrain, transmission, gearing, and most importantly the internal combustion engine
JZeke 4:00PM (12/01/2008)
My masters thesis concept was a car for China, 2020, and the model was displayed at the 2004 NAIAS. In presenting the concept to my faculty I had envisioned something very much like this for the wheels, but clearly Michelin has taken a similar idea and made it real. I hope this helps convince the faculty I wasn't mining unobtanium.
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Frank 4:11PM (12/01/2008)
how expensive would something like this be in comparison to a normal engine taking into consideration maintenance?
Rich 4:22PM (12/01/2008)
Much cheaper, by the looks of things. Once it's on the jack stands, it becomes a Hoover.
JZeke 5:03PM (12/01/2008)
My big worry was unsprung weight. Performance manufacturers (and the after market) will charge top dollar for lighter wheels. The benefits are obvious from one stint behind the wheel.
I wonder what they are doing to keep the sprung weight reasonable.
tekd 4:28AM (12/02/2008)
I think you were confusing unsprung weight and the rotational weight if your system had the suspension in the wheels. Now, if your system had just an electric motor in the wheels it would increase unsprung weight a huge amount, but by moving the actual suspension componentry to the wheel itself it allows a lot of stuff to be removed from the unsprung weight category. In theory at least, they could even keep the in-wheel motor suspended by the springs, so that the only unsprung weight is a light outer rotating ring.
And since the suspension parts do not rotate they don't increase rotational inertia either.
Anyways, the real advancement here isn't the in-wheel motors, it's actually the fact that they've moved the suspension into the wheels and reduced unsprung weight not increased it-otherwise it'd just be a stupid idea.
JZeke 12:19PM (12/02/2008)
Good point, this whole idea would be rather stupid if they had just made a really heavy wheel!
I found this on treehugger.com:
"A 7 kilogram (14.4 pound) in-wheel motor forms the heart of the Michelin Active Wheel. Packing in a sophisticated active shock absorption system, with its own dedicated motor, and disk braking brings the wheel to a hefty 43 kg (95 pounds). But Michelin Director for Sustainable Development and Mobility of the Future, Patrick Oliva points out in Die Welt that the unsprung weight in the Heuliez Will is 35 kg (77 pounds) on the front axle and 24 kg (53 pounds) on the rear, noting for comparison that the small Renault Clio has 38 kg of unsprung weight on its front axle. With battery packs on board, the prototype Heuliez Will weighs in at 900 kg, 75 kg less than the Opel Agila."
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/active-wheel-affordable-electric-car.php
So they've really done it, amazingly. I can't wait to see further applications of this.
MixiM 4:11PM (12/01/2008)
Ehm, The tire was developed by a scott named mr.Dunlop, not michelin!
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Marc-O 4:21PM (12/01/2008)
Not the AUTOMOBILE tire... That was Michelin.
Rich 4:23PM (12/01/2008)
...which, given that they followed Dunlop's design, was an innovation how, exactly?
MixiM 4:24PM (12/01/2008)
Ye, sory about that, missed it :P And for the record, it wasn't Dunlop that invented the tire.. it was Robert William Thomas =)
Marc-O 4:28PM (12/01/2008)
They did NOT follow Dunlop's design. Before Michelin, very crude pneumatic tires were glued to the rim (bicycles) - Michelin invented removable tires, then invented the radial tire, which is your modern car tire. If you don't call that innovation, does that mean you'd be perfectly happy having glued-on bicycle balloon tires on your car ?
MixiM 4:29PM (12/01/2008)
Rich, haha, well yes, it's like putting a slice of cheese on a bowl of ice-cream and calling it an inovation :P I guess for the time it was a pretty big feat to produce a tire withstanding all the weight and centrifugal forces involved in the motorized world of vulcanization.
Bungle 4:16PM (12/01/2008)
This seems like it could work for commuter cars, but I'm skeptical about any applications in a performance vehicle.
Wouldn't this lead to a huge amount of unsprung weight, not to mention concentrating the mass of the car at all four corners, resulting in a very large moment of inertia? That can't be good for cornering.
The main reason why mid-engine cars can be so nimble is that the bulk of their weight (the engine) is concentrated in the center of the vehicle, allowing the car to rotate and change direction easily. Think of the classic physics demonstration where you sit on a rotating stool while holding dumbells - you spin with much less effort when you pull them in to your chest than when you hold them at arm's length. A car with this system would essentially be doing the latter.
Based on the press release, Michelin seems confident in the design's handling capability, so maybe there's something I'm missing? Or is that just PR speak?
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