> I used to work in decent depth with three phase bldc motors, so I feel I can say with some authority that these things _can_ be simulated

If I take it literally versus hyperbole and excitement, could there be uncertainty coming from the drive train design choices, system integration details?

> and while real world data is hard to exactly predict, getting something outside of the predicted range would generally be interpreted as a sign that your simulation isn't so good

Either that, or your measurements are inaccurate.

Depends if you make overly conservative assumptions in your modeling...

+1

I suspect that the marketing guy's eyes glazed over when the engineers tried to explain confidence intervals to him. He demanded a simple figure. They gave him the median projected value to make him go away. The tested value was above median projection and thus you get this wordspew.

To be fair, in some applications the short-term peak rating is an important metric in its own right. For example, robotics applications frequently will have high peak load, but much lower steady state load. Eg, a jumping robot will briefly need a ton of force when pushing against the ground and when landing, but in the middle there it won't be applying such high loads. Likewise for bringing appendages up to speed, or accelerating a car to some speed, etc.

edit: After looking at your account, I see you are John Nagle, and I worry that I am confidently-incorrect here, lol. I'll leave the comment as-is because it is still my genuine belief, but feel free to correct me if I'm totally off!

In the press release, they mention 350-400 kW continuous power. The motor weight is given as 12.7kg so this translates to 27.6-31.5 kW/kg (16.76-19.2 hp/lb) continuous power.

What always shocked me were the number of tech-oriented people that were are not aware of the tremendous progress in lithium ion batteries. And not just in the cost, performance, and reduction in materials needed. Production capacity grows by 10x in a mere five years. We were at 1.2TWh of production in 2024, and will be at ~20TWh in 2030. When batteries are eventually recycled, they get recycled into a higher power capacity than went in because recovery of materials is high and gains in production are even higher.

The global average cost of solar panels is $90/kW. With high tariffs, it's $150/kW in India and $270/kW in the US. Raising tariffs is something like 6 months of price drops. (Meanwhile installed, it costs $500-$3000 on residential properties...)

Solar and storage are some of the most impressive technologies of the past century, and so many people are sleeping on the huge changes it will have.

High power high voltage switching ICs have caught up.

Then you could use a smaller motor which would be lighter (important for aviation) and likely cheaper.

The future is here - https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/products/velis-electro/

Seeing these pop up at a lot of flying schools for basic training.

Putting the motor in the wheel does have some performance and space advantages. It is being done in some vehicles today.

However it does have some limitations as well. For the "general case" it may not be ideal.

Top of the list is protection. The motor is an expensive part, the wheel is an exposed part - bumping a curb for example could get expensive quickly.

Cooling is also an issue. In-wheel motors suggest air cooling, whereas a bigger (single) motor can be liquid cooled.

Currently in wheel motors end up being quite a bit more expensive (because 4 motors not 1).

On paper, in-wheel motors save space, allow for concepts like "4 wheel drive with different lock", save weight and cleaner design (no drive shafts etc), but it's not clear that the end product is better for "every day" users.