How Will Autonomous Pods Move? Here’s One Answer

Autonomous vehicles are on their way. They may not arrive in the next year, or the next five, but soon fleets of autonomous vehicles will be shuffling commuters to their offices, delivering the over served to their homes safely, and running errands for those too busy for the mundane.

But will autonomous vehicles drive the same as the machines that we use to ferry ourselves and our goods today? If the company Protean has anything to say about it, there will be one marked difference, and it’ll be at the auto’s wheelbase.

According to Protean’s sources, the “global intelligent mobility market” (what that encompasses is anyone’s guess) will reach a staggering $1 trillion per year by 2025. That’s six years from now.

In order to get their share of that cash, Protean is proposing a configurable wheelbase that provides integrated steering, obedient kneeling, and full rotation around the system’s vertical axis.

Impressively, Protean can provide all of these features in an all-in-one package that consists of a ProteanDrive hub motor (the powerhouse of the project), a dampened, mini double wishbone suspension connected to a 360-degree rotating steering arm, and of course, a tire and rim. As currently advertised, each ProteanDrive will be powered by a Protean Pd18 unit capable of supplying each base with 107HP of toque.

Currently, there’s no price set for the ProteanDrive, but with a 2025 date set for a $1-trillion market cap, more details about the ProteanDrive should be upcoming.