The torque values of wheel motors cannot be compared to either conventional EV drivetrains or ICE vehicles. Conventional EV drivetrains and ICE vehicles have a gear train between the motor and the wheels, so the motor is turning at a much higher rpm than the wheels. The torque is multiplied by the gear train, so the relatively low engine torque becomes a much higher torque at the wheels. Wheel motors have no gear train, so the motor speed and torque equal the wheel speed and torque.
It is also ludicrous to compare torque between conventional EVs and ICE vehicles, as normally the EV will have motors that run at much higher rpm than ICE motors, and thus a gear train that multiplies the torque much more than those of ICE vehicles. In the end, it is the torque at the wheels that counts, and no one tells you what that is. Kevin Horton > On Apr 26, 2026, at 14:18, List Lackey via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > I don't monitor where people post from, but I suspect that most of the list > is in North America. Thus maybe you're not all that interested in European > and/or Asian EV developments that will never make it to your continent. > > But I just learned something about a new Renault EV that's set to go on sale > next year, and thought you might be interested, because ... > > If the Renault 5 Turbo 3E succeeds, I think it will the first commercial > success for wheel motors. > > Background: For those who don't know, Luca De Meo (My left third finger keeps > reaching for the W every time I type that name) is now running Renault. > Before that he was at SEAT and VW, and before that, Fiat. He's kind of a one > weird trick guy. The nostalgic Fiat 500 "reboot" of almost 20 years ago was > his idea, and he can't let go of it - just look at the Renault R5, R4, and > (this year) Twingo EVs. They're all new cars that look sort of vaguely old. > > More background: Back in the 1980s, a lot of European rallyists ran R5 > Turbos, which Renault started building in 1980. > > If you're old enough, and North American, you may know the Renault R5 better > as "Le Car." It was a quirky, light, efficient, and amazingly comfortable > small front wheel drive hatchback ICEV. (How quirky was it? The left and > right wheelbases were different.) > > The turbo R5 was something else entirely. Instead of a front engine front > drive layout, It had a mid-mounted ICE driving the rear wheels, and a lot of > power for its weight. > > The new R5 Turbo 3E EV is also rear drive. It has 555hp and - get this - > Renault claim 4,800nm of peak torque. That's 3,540 ft-lb! That's not a > misprint. > > How you can possibly transmit that much torque to the road through any kind > of rubber tires will be left as an exercise for the reader. > > Also, maybe someone would like to calculate how much current that torque will > require from the car's 800 volt battery. > > A few other nuggets - > > Custom carbon fiber body, 2 seats, roll cage, racing harnesses > 0-100km/h in "about 3 seconds," sez Renault > Top speed 280km/h (168mph) > WLTP range "at least 400km" sez Renault > Weight 1450kg > Battery 70kWh > DC charging 350kW > Seriously weird looking, short (408cm) but wide (203cm) > > Limited edition of 1,980 units (1980, get it?) > > I suspect that driving it will be something like driving a wildly overpowered > go-kart. Not that I'm planning to, partly because it's not my thing, and > partly because the base price is a stratospheric 160,000 euros. That's about > US$192k. > > (Yeah, I know that a Tesla 3 Performance accelerates at least as fast, has > 50% longer range, and costs something like 1/3 as much. But that's a normal > car that looks like a normal car. This is emphatically not a normal car.) > > I wasn't paying much attention to this car until I read that it has wheel > motors. They're made, or at least designed, by Protean, if that means > anything to you. There's a bit of detail in one of the linked stories. > > One article I read (also linked) implied that Renault's engineers think they > can use software to manage the handling quirks that will surely tag along > behind those big, brawny, unsprung 277hp wheel motors. > > Whadday'all think? Will it work? Will they get them out the door in 2027? > Will I read about a bunch of these stuffed into the trees a week or two after > they hit the dealers? > > Info and photos: > > https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/first-ride-%C2%A3200k-r5- > turbo-3e-533bhp-electric-drift-monster > > Shortcut https://v.gd/4Du45Z > > https://www.just-auto.com/news/renault-5-turbo-3e-to-be-fitted-with-in-wheel- > motors/ > > Shortcut https://v.gd/YZYPCz > > https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/renault-5-turbo-3e-flat-out-mad-bad- > 540bhp-superhero-r5 > > Shortcut: https://v.gd/kIwxCm > > David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey > > To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my > offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn't go and look at > horses. They'd sit in their studies and say to themselves, "What would > I do if I were a horse?" > > -- Ely Devons > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > OT: If you use an Android device, please read https://keepandroidopen.org/ _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ OT: If you use an Android device, please read https://keepandroidopen.org/
