The wheel remains the same, yet the "heart" that drives it has moved — no longer underneath the vehicle, but inside the wheel‑hub. This seemingly minor layout change is rewriting the driving logic of new‑energy vehicles, and China‑based smart manufacturing forces are gaining initiative at this global technological high ground.

Recently, reporters learned from Dongfeng Motor that the enterprise has secured successive major breakthroughs in in‑wheel motor technology: from leading a national key R&D program, to obtaining the world’s first production announcement for a four‑wheel‑drive passenger vehicle equipped with in‑wheel motors, and spearheading the formulation of national standards that fill domestic gaps. Such progress marks that China has built a fully independent intellectual property‑owned technical system in the cutting‑edge track of in‑wheel motors for new‑energy vehicles, injecting strong impetus into the development of new‑quality productive forces.

The in‑wheel motor integrates power, transmission and braking components directly inside the wheel, eliminating the need for conventional gearboxes and drive shafts. It is hailed as the "ultimate solution" for new‑energy vehicle driving technology. In December 2023, Dongfeng Motor formed an industry‑university‑research‑application R&D team together with domestic universities and competitive enterprises, and took the lead in undertaking the national key R&D project entitled “High‑Performance In‑Wheel Motor System and Vehicle Integration for Passenger Vehicles”, making all‑out efforts to tackle common industrial challenges.

Two years of persistent efforts yielded remarkable achievements. In September 2025, outcomes of the project were displayed in the core exhibition area of the World New‑Energy Congress as representative achievements of the 14th Five‑Year Plan national key R&D special program, winning high recognition from global industry experts. It signifies that Chinese strengths have successfully broken the monopoly in the in‑wheel motor sector once dominated by foreign capital.

Technological breakthroughs are being rapidly translated into engineering applications. In December 2025, Dongfeng Motor obtained the world’s first vehicle model announcement for a distributed in‑wheel‑motor four‑wheel‑drive passenger vehicle. The relevant self‑developed model was officially included in the catalogue released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, making it China’s first domestically‑built four‑wheel‑drive passenger vehicle with in‑wheel motors ready for mass production. Statistics show that thanks to the removal of traditional transmission parts, vehicle interior space utilization is improved by 20 %. With independently controllable torque for four wheels, the critical vehicle speed for double‑lane‑change extreme manoeuvres rises by 12 %, representing a key leap from “technically feasible” to “vehicle‑ready for practical use”.

Evolving from corporate breakthrough to industry leadership, Dongfeng Motor is also striving to build industry discourse power. The recommended national standard *In‑Wheel Motor Systems for Electric Vehicles*, for which the enterprise served as the lead proposer, has been officially released, filling the void of national standards in this field in China. The standard specifies full‑process technical requirements for in‑wheel motor systems, facilitating high‑quality and standardized development of this emerging technology and consolidating China’s technical advantages in the in‑wheel motor domain.

From lab prototypes, to mass‑produced vehicles listed in the MIIT catalogue, and further to being a national standard‑setter — Dongfeng Motor’s “triple leap” in in‑wheel motors demonstrates the resilience and capability of China’s automobile industry in tackling core technologies. As industry experts commented, this is not merely an achievement of a single enterprise, but a vital epitome of China’s new‑energy vehicle industry advancing from “complete‑vehicle assembly” toward “independent development of core assemblies”.

Source: Workers’ Daily