Hybridization of Conventional Cars Using Retrofitted Wheel Hub Motors

With increasing fuel costs, pollution and climate change, the public have developed a greater awareness of efficient energy usage. It is well known that the Internal Combustion Engine on light passenger vehicles are very inefficient during start/stop periods. To increase the efficiency, lower emissions and running costs, an electric drive design is implemented as a retrofit to a pre-existing automobile. It is evident that there are many purpose-built hybrid electric cars in the market. However, there is a lack of retrofit systems for millions of pre-existing Internal Combustion Engine vehicles. The design concept presented in this paper includes the use of two Brushless DC electric motors specifically designed to fit as hubs for the rear wheels of the vehicle and powered by an on- board battery bank. Test results are presented on aspects such as performance and economics leading to comparisons between with and without the retrofit design. The paper demonstrates what performance and savings can be achieved by retrofitting wheel hub motors to a front wheel driven car with an IC engine