Ex-development chief of Audi and Volvo takes stake in Deepdrive

The company has landed several million euros in a financing round. Deepdrive wants to relocate the drive of electric cars to the wheel hubs. This is intended to make better use of the engine compartment.

Munich-based car start-up Deepdrive has raised €4.3 million in investments as part of its seed financing round. Investors UVC Partners and Bayern Kapital, the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria, got on board.

In addition, someone who knows the industry very well has participated: Peter Mertens, former head of development at Audi and Volvo, has injected a six-figure sum, as he explained to the newspaper. World on Sunday explained to the newspaper. Jonas Rieke, the COO of software company Personio, also participated in the round.

Deepdrive wants to move the drive of e-cars to the wheel hubs. The wheel hub is the connection between wheels and axles. It is located in the center of the wheel and transmits the power of the drive shaft to the wheels. The motors are then located in the rims of the wheels instead of on the chassis. This would allow the engine compartment to be used for other purposes.

The technology is said to be aimed primarily at smaller vehicles. Mertens hopes Deepdrive's technology could be used in robot cabs or in mini cargo vehicles, he told the Welt am Sonntag explained. He believes it will be usable before 2030 - probably in Europe or Asia, such as Korea or Japan.

The idea of housing the drive in the wheel hubs is not new. Ferdinand Porsche used the technology as early as 1900 in an electric car. However, Deepdrive's technology is intended to make it more usable. So far, it has not been suitable for mass use: The weight was too high, the noise too loud.

According to the company, Deepdrive's motor technology consumes 20 percent less energy than other e-cars. As a result, the cars could run longer without being recharged. Deepdrive already presented its technology at the IAA auto show in Munich. With the money from the financing round, Deepdrive wants to further develop its technology and expand its team.