General Dynamics RST-V Series-Hybrid With Cool In-Wheel Motors [2009 Sae]

The General Dynamics Reconnaissance Surveillance and Targeting Vehicle is one make cool piece of kit. It’s powered by four electric in-wheel motors and can export thirty kilowatts directly to the grid. It’s also got neat-o gauges.

This piece of military could-be is part of a larger push from the US Army to reduce their fuel consumption and use smarter technologies to make future land vehicles better in the field and other thing useful tools for soldiers. The RST-V is a technology demonstrator built entirely by means of General Dynamics to pomp what’s possible on a smaller-sized vehicle built around a series hybrid drive universe.

It uses a small diesel-engine powering a generator to charge on-board batteries or power the in-wheel electric motors. Instead of mounting the wheels to studs on the motor as is normally done on hub-motor concepts, this general works a bit differently. First the wheel is assembled on a bearing riding on an stub axle, then on goes the 90 kW peak, 50 kW continuous pancake motor mount installed on the splined hub shaft, then on top of that a pancake gear reduction unit which interfaces with an eccentrically mounted geared footprint one the rim of the wheel. Very, very clever. Each move ready gets an independent motor controller so even on the supposition that three motors get shot out, forward motion is still in posse.

Aside from being able to operate in all-silent mode, it can also export into the bargain 20 kW of power to the grid. Since it doesn’t have the traditionary powertrain layout, it allows packaging designers to be joined things up. Outside you get a pretty extreme brake-over angle for great obstacle clearance boundary inside you excellent passenger opportunity, and some pretty sweet all-digital gauges and electroluminescent controls.

With a combined instantaneous government output of 482 HP at the wheels and staggering land clearance, we’lunch love to see which this thing could do out in the muddy and hirsute stuff.