In-wheel motors have become a reality in a production electric pickup truck in the blink of an eye—in the Lordstown Endurance. But the technology, also known as hub motors, has yet to be confirmed for production in any other U.S. passenger car or truck.
That could change in the future. Based on some recently released images, Ford appears to be testing a pickup truck with in-wheel electric motors, possibly an electric version of its heavy-duty Super Duty pickup.
Spy photos Published on Thursday by Autoblog shows a camouflaged truck that appears to be a rebadged Ford F-150 Lightning. It’s hard to say for sure, but the circular shape behind the steering wheel in one photo looks like a hub motor. It’s certainly suspicious that the vehicle has no visible brake calipers, since Ford no longer offers drum brakes on its big pickups, Autoblog notes.
The truck also gets eight-spoke wheels, which are used on Ford Super Duty pickups but not on the production Lightning or gas-powered F-150. An electric Super Duty would also make more sense for in-wheel motors because Ford has removed them. for Lightning.
2024 Ford Super Duty F-250
Ford’s global EV product development director, Darren Palmer, told Green Car Reports in 2021 that Ford had considered in-wheel motors for the F-150 Lighting, confirming that Ford continued testing them, but he stressed that they were decided not to be satisfactory at the time for a number of reasons. Insufficient spring volume, which made tuning and handling difficult, was part of the reason. But the deciding factor appears to have been the hub motor seals, which could potentially let contaminants in from off-road terrain.
Lordstown Motors chose a hub motor licensed from Slovenian company Elaphe for the ill-fated Endurance. Compared to the millions of miles spent developing the Lightning, Lordstown said in 2021 that it had logged about 20,000 development miles on its electric pickup before launch and about 200,000 development miles on the engine. Only a handful of Endurance trucks were completed before the company filed for bankruptcy.
2024 Ford Super Duty F-250
However, in 2023, Ford filed a patent for a system that uses a combination of motor in wheel and solid shaft. Perhaps that system is currently being tested.
Meanwhile, Ferrari, McLaren and others are said to be considering in-wheel motors. for future EV performance. Some aftermarket conversion have also demonstrated the power of the packaging they enable. But it’s unclear whether the technology has matured enough for Ford (and perhaps others) to consider them a viable solution—or whether they’ll remain experimental for years to come.
