In-wheel autonomy with Icona Nucleus

The Icona Nucleus, an in-wheel electronic drive system, was showcased at this year’s Geneva Motor Show bringing a new meaning to autonomous driving.

The Icona concept Nucleus represents the synthesis of futurism and a human-centered mindset. With its fully autonomous driving level five, the Nucleus jumps two generations ahead. Inside the vehicle, the absence of a driver does not only mean the absence of a steering wheel and a dashboard, but the opportunity for a new understanding of mobile living spaces, where the focus is no longer the road but the journey.

Technology should be felt but not seen and so a “less is more approach” has been used, resulting in a fluid and sculptural body that combines the needs of both aerodynamics and ergonomics. Beyond its technological innovation, Nucleus also shows us the future for the next generation of cars.

Icona and Elaphe both believe that the transformation through different levels of vehicle autonomy and digitalization needs to be supported by a transformation in the underlying technology that performs the base functionality – the powertrain. In order to build the vehicle around the user’s needs, the powertrain should become virtually invisible to the user, with the focus instead on “the front-end functionality”.

The future-oriented Icona Nucleus uses the most forward-looking Elaphe in-wheel motor technology for its electric powertrain, with each wheel featuring the highest-performance production in-wheel motor in the world.

Headquartered in Europe, Elapse is a in-wheel motor technology company. The Elaphe™ L1500 in-wheel motor is currently the brand’s highest-performance product, producing a staggering 1500 Nm peak torque which available to each wheel throughout the speed range, delivering 110kW of maximum power to each wheel. The four L1500 in-wheel motors on the Nucleus provide the stunning concept with a total of 440kW of wheel power (in the same range as the Lamborghini Huracan).

Not only does the in-wheel motor deliver superior performance without the technical complexities of a combustion engine, gears, transmissions, differential, driveshafts and other components, it allows designers more flexibility in space design (https://youtu.be/GdV42IPxBac).

Benefitting from this, the Icona Nucleus’ luxury interior design redefines the rules of people’s activities in the car – six comfortable seats can be seamlessly adjusted, or even joined into two large sofas; it also features a lamp, and a table, to allow passengers the freedom of choice between an office or leisure time. The passengers get to feel like if they are sitting in a luxurious living room, fully enjoying the graceful time on the road.