More and more is being written about the future of Electric Vehicles or EV in short.  These use a variety of systems described as Wheel hub motors or in-wheel motors.  There is a great whitepaper section of it here: http://www.proteanelectric.com/media-relations/7/white-papers/257/effect-of-hub-motor-mass-on-stability-and-comfort-of-electric-vehicles/259/mediarelations.aspx What is very clear is that the industry is clearly serious as it’s a strategic concern.  However they are highly reliant addressing this demand either in-house (a la Toyota Pruis) or more likely outsourced to companies like Protean Electric who supply Volvo.  Will I buy one certainly.  Will I buy one now?  I wonder, probably not.  Only when people really jump on the bandwagon.  The wagon is rolling but it’s not quite there and the costs are still prohibitive.