Elaphe presents new high-performance in-wheel drive platform
The Slovenian drive specialist’s new platform Sonic X follows another in-wheel motor, which was presented half a year ago at the CES 2025, named Sonic 1. This drive system was limited to electric vehicles, and Elaphe’s new system is system agnostic, meaning that it works on both “hybrid and electric vehicle architectures, delivering massive performance upgrades for new and existing vehicles.” It fits electric vehicles with both 400 and 800-volt systems, and the system can even be used on an internal combustion engine vehicle to boost performance.
The Sonic X drive is designed to offer 300+ kW of power per wheel, and is compatible with standard high-performance brakes, enabling the integration of large brake discs fitting into 20 to 23-inch rims, which the company asserts as being an industry-first. It is scalable and can support axle peak power of up to 1 MW in rear-wheel-drive with up to 9000 Nm of peak torque per axle.
The system itself consists of direct-drive in-wheel motors (without transmission), power electronics and embedded proprietary high-speed control software. Key features include a particularly lightweight design, featuring over 8 kW/kg continuous power density and 80 Nm/kg torque density. Elaphe also advertises the braking system as “track-worthy,” as it utilizes a high-power brake to reduce brake temperatures and stopping distances. Furthermore, the ‘Advanced Elaphe Slip Control’ delivers a 15% increase in acceleration and deceleration and 5% faster cornering speeds, according to the manufacturer.
Last year, Elaphe announced a development cooperation with McLaren to focus on powertrains, but the company has been delivering to customers for a longer period, having announced an order from Aptera in the summer of 2022, and an order from the now-bankrupt startup Lordstown for an electric pickup truck in 2020.
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