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. The aim is to make better use of the engine compartment.

The Munich-based car start-up Deepdrive has raised investments totaling 4.3 million euros as part of its seed financing round. Investors UVC Partners and Bayern Kapital, the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria, have joined in.

In addition, someone who knows the industry inside out has also invested: Peter Mertens, former Head of Development at Audi and Volvo, has injected a six-figure sum, as he told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Jonas Rieke, COO of the software company Personio, also participated in the round.

Deepdrive wants to transfer the drive of electric cars to the wheel hubs. The wheel hub is the connection between the 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 allows the engine compartment to be used for other purposes.

The technology is primarily aimed at smaller vehicles. Mertens hopes that Deepdrive's technology could be used in robot cabs or mini freight vehicles, as he told the Welt am Sonntag explained. He believes that it will be ready for use before 2030 - probably in Europe or Asia, for example in Korea or Japan.

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

According to the company, Deepdrive's motor technology consumes 20 percent less energy than other electric cars. This means that the cars can drive for longer without having to be recharged. Deepdrive already presented its technology at the IAA motor show in Munich. Deepdrive intends to use the money from the financing round to further develop its technology and expand its team.