BMW Files Patent for Electric Front Wheel Hub Drive

A patent has been filed by BMW for a front hub mounted electric drive system, which will likely be mounted to their future GS adventure bikes.

BMW Files Patent for Electric Front Wheel Hub Drive

People say you can’t reinvent the wheel... but BWM said ‘hold ma beer’.

The Bavarian power haus has recently filed a patent for an electric front-wheel-drive system, which we think will feature on their future range of GS adventure bikes.

The patent design looks fairly similar system seen on the GS1200 XDrive Hybrid all-wheel-drive bike Bimmer tested back in 2017, with the 33kw electric motor/generator mounting over the front wheel hub. Similarly, the new electric drive system requires the rider to select if it's engaged or not, the same as the 2017 XDrive Hybrid system. 

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Now, before we get ahead of ourselves the filed patent does state that this technology can be used for two, three and even four-wheeled applications. So best not to get too excited. Who knows though, maybe we’ll see the tech unveiled at EICMA in November?