Donut Lab And Watt Electric Vehicles Develop Electric Vehicle Platform With Wheel Hub Motor

Electromobility Donut Lab And Watt Electric Vehicles Develop Electric Vehicle Platform With Wheel Hub Motor

2025-12-30 From Stefanie Eckardt | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

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Donut Lab and Watt Electric Vehicle Company have entered a partnership, as both companies announced. The goal is to design lighter electric vehicles. To achieve this, the partners are combining Watt's Module-to-Chassis battery platform with Donut Lab's wheel hub motors.

Partnership: Donut Lab and Watt Electric Vehicle Company work on lightweight EV platforms.(Image: Donut Lab) — Partnership: Donut Lab and Watt Electric Vehicle Company work on lightweight EV platforms.
(Image: Donut Lab)

A key element of the collaboration is Watt's lightweight aluminum platform Paces, short for Passenger And Commercial EV Skateboard. This will now integrate Donut Lab's in-wheel motor technology with two direct-drive motors on the rear axle, with an all-wheel-drive version set to follow in 2026. As a result, the partners promise a "lightweight electric vehicle platform whose performance and flexibility enable the development of a wide range of vehicle configurations, from beach buggies and high-performance sports cars to commercial vehicles for delivery traffic."

Direct Drive Architecture

At the center of the collaboration is the ability to control each Donut Lab wheel hub motor independently with millisecond precision. This enables optimal torque distribution when cornering on asphalt or searching for grip off-road.

The complete elimination of conventional drivetrains in the direct-drive architecture enables weight reduction, creates additional space in the vehicle, and reduces complexity while significantly improving energy transmission efficiency. The system's real-time control functions ensure high precision, stability, and driving control. Thanks to software-defined driving dynamics, the automaker retains full control over the desired driving experience in the final product.

Thanks to its modular design, the companies' skateboard platform is suitable for a variety of vehicle types and applications across different segments. The simplified architecture also reduces manufacturing complexity, minimizes maintenance requirements over the vehicle's lifetime, and lowers overall costs compared to conventional electric drivetrains, making high-performance electric vehicles more accessible to smaller manufacturers and niche markets. (se)

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Date: 08.12.2025

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