Tell us a bit about Protean Electric?
Protean Electric is an automotive technology innovator, and a world-leading developer of in-wheel motors including ProteanDrive, a fully integrated in-wheel drive solution. Protean Electric’s technology is strategically positioned to play a major role in the hybrid, electric vehicle and future mobility market by offering a combination of packaging advantages, new vehicle design opportunities, performance benefits and earnings improvements.
Globally Protean Electric has over 320 patents across 75 patent families with operations in the United Kingdom, China, Turkey and the USA. Protean Electric is part of the BEDEO Group, a leading technology company that brings smart, sustainable transportation solutions to companies across Europe as they transition on the path to zero-emission mobility.
Describe how Protean’s Generation 5 in-wheel motor works?
Protean Electric is a world leader of in-wheel motor (IWM) technology for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), and future transport solutions. We recently announced the production launch of our ProteanDrive Generation 5 IWM and this new generation of IWM offers an industrialised product with enhanced performance, scalability and affordability, marking a significant advancement in the field.
Engineered and tested in the UK, the ‘Gen 5’ ProteanDrive Pd18 IWM provides world-leading performance and a fully integrated inverter, all housed inside an 18-inch wheel package, suitable for all automotive and mobility applications.
Is it now in production?
Yes – production commenced in Q3 2023 and since then shipments have been dispatched to OEMs and mobility trailblazers worldwide from Protean’s advanced manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China. Underscoring Protean’s position as an industry leader, this production launch and associated IATF 16949 certification, further demonstrates full-scale industrialisation of the most mature and advanced IWM product available on a global scale, today.
What are the benefits for manufacturers in adopting the technology?
This leading, certified IWM from Protean allows vehicle manufacturers to improve their products – offering a superior customer experience through enhanced vehicle space and ergonomics, efficiency, safety and performance – all delivering improved margin and market share for OEMs. As the technology matures and cost reduces, these benefits are proven to drive progressively more vehicle manufacturers towards large-scale adoption of IWMs.
In-wheel motors are a critical component to the future of the electric vehicle industry. The availability of an industrialised Pd18 positions Protean Electric at the forefront of the market. This technology will allow vehicle manufacturers to adopt in-wheel-motors at scale and at an affordable price, as they seek to differentiate their product offering in an increasingly crowded electric vehicle market.
Protean’s Gen 5 Pd18 has been designed, fully validated, and manufactured to meet the highest automotive industry standards, and can be configured to a range of wheel sizes, torque and power capabilities. Offering integrated and separate inverters, 400V lead products are available today, with 800V products by the end of 2024. Protean received its IATF 16949 certificate earlier this year, and Pd18 has been granted R85 homologation. Gen5 Pd18 is already in use by lead customers as part of BEDEO’s Reborn Electric retrofit solution alongside ConMet’s Preset Plus Electric Hub zero-emission refrigerated trailer solution.
Andrew Whitehead, Chief Executive Officer of Protean Electric
