These donut-shaped motors could change the way electric cars are designed

The shape of the electric motor, and most importantly, the shape Electric cars That their power might be about to change. in Consumer Electronics Show 2025electric motor manufacturer Donut Lab has introduced its second generation of all-wheel drive units. The new engines promise a lot of power and torque with very little weight, and like the company’s name, a big hole in the middle.

The way electric vehicles are designed inherits a lot from the engineering of combustion cars: There’s a motor (sometimes two or three) somewhere in the body of the car connected to the wheels via the drivetrain. Electric motors located inside the wheels promise to shrink these components and move them to the wheel arches, freeing up space in the cabin for people and cargo. However, there is one big problem that Donat thinks he can overcome: the engines are too big and too heavy.

The second-generation Donut Lab engine is squeezed into a 21-inch collar, and promises up to 630 kW (845 hp) and 43,000 Nm (3,171 lb-ft of torque) per unit. Before you get too excited about that torque figure, keep in mind that “normal” electric motor torque is usually measured at the rotor before hitting it with a single-speed gearbox that doesn’t have the cake. So, while the claimed 21-inch torque is certainly impressive, it doesn’t represent a quantum leap from, say, a Tesla drive unit.

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The engine maker also claims that its engines are up to 50% less expensive to manufacture, saving about 120 parts along the way. This could make cars less expensive on the road. Moving the engine to the wheel arches also frees up space inside the body which can be reallocated to cargo, passengers, more batteries or experimental aerodynamics. (Think about Jaguar I-Pace or Polestar 3Front wings, but more brutal.)

Of course, the kicker in the room is that even though the Donut Lab wheels are lighter than the motors inside the previous wheels, they are still heavier than traditional wheels. More importantly, they add weight to the worst place a car can gain weight: under the suspension. Gaining unsprung mass, as it is known, has a much greater impact on performance and comfort than equivalent mass gained in a car’s chassis, and rotating mass is hard to argue with. With over 80 extra bees per wheel, there’s bound to be some impact on braking, handling, and ride quality, though how much of that impact remains to be seen.

In addition to the car’s 21-inch wheel, Donut factory It also showed off an efficiency-focused semi-truck version of the 21-inch wheel that features lower rpm, 200 kW and 2,212 lb-ft (3,000 Nm) per wheel. The kit will also include a 12-inch (15 kW) scooter motor and a 120 mm (3 kW) drone motor. Donut’s 150 kW 17-inch motorcycle engine is already in use on the road for a few people Boutique electric bikesSo the chances of seeing this technology on a car in the future are better than you think.