The Future of EV Handling? Evaluating Elaphe’s In-Wheel Hub-Motor Prototype on a Frozen Lake in a Modified Hyundai Ioniq 5
Imagine piloting a 500-horsepower, front-engined, rear-drive American pony car on glare ice without a single tire stud. It sounds like a recipe for disaster—a white-knuckle ride demanding the saintly restraint of a Zen master. Yet, here I am, inches from a frozen Swedish lake, my right foot buried deep into the accelerator pedal, effortlessly executing continuous, sweeping drifts. The steering wheel is only a prop, and I’m having an absolute blast.
What gives? The secret lies not in my mythical driving skills, but in the sophisticated hardware adorning this machine’s front axle. Where you’d expect to find only massive brake calipers, suspension linkages, and steering knuckles, this coupe hosts a pair of compact electric motors. These aren’t just brute-force additions; they are precision instruments, adding not only horsepower but an incredible layer of capability to a vehicle that would otherwise be utterly useless on this treacherous surface.
Hailing from Ljubljana, Slovenia, Elaphe is a company that has been quietly perfecting the art of **in-wheel hub motors** since its inception in 2006. While many consumers associate hub motors with low-speed electric scooters and bicycles, Elaphe has been busy engineering these compact powerplants for larger, more demanding applications. Their most prominent partnership, the one that promised to bring their technology to the masses, was with Lordstown Motors. Tragically, Lordstown’s subsequent bankruptcy left Elaphe’s widespread OEM adoption plans in limbo, forcing the innovative company to pivot and showcase its capabilities through more bespoke projects like the one I’m currently enjoying.
My ride for this icy excursion? A modified **Hyundai Ioniq 5**, courtesy of Elaphe. The standard Ioniq 5, particularly in its N performance variant, is already a highly competent EV. However, in its base configuration, it’s a far more sensible appliance—especially when faced with the low-friction environment of a frozen lake. My initial experience took place on a prepared handling circuit at the Colmis Proving Ground, nestled just outside the remote Arctic town of Arjeplog, Sweden.
In its stock form, the Ioniq 5 is undeniably competent, even on its unstudded snow tires. The traction and stability control systems are sharp and assertive, cutting power abruptly the instant they detect slip. Attempting to accelerate out of a corner quickly becomes a frustrating exercise in managing a razor-thin margin of error. Any deviation, any overzealous application of the throttle, and the car simply stops moving, the electronics refusing to relinquish control.
Interestingly, a lengthy press of the traction control button deactivates these electronic guardians. With TC off, the standard Ioniq 5 transforms into a completely different animal. Sliding and tire spin become possible, but the experience is far from rewarding. The vehicle lurches into wild oversteer with little warning, leaving the driver perpetually off-balance. Furthermore, when attempting to correct the slide by applying power, the car falls victim to terminal understeer. Even with a deliberately aggressive Scandinavian flick, the front wheels plow relentlessly forward, refusing to bite into the ice.
Enter Elaphe’s **quad-motor Ioniq 5**. This custom build ditches Hyundai’s dual-motor setup entirely, replacing it with four compact, in-wheel hub motors—one at each corner. Each of these motors is capable of producing a staggering 188 horsepower and a colossal 1,254 lb-ft of torque. Remarkably, Elaphe has integrated these motors with the car’s stock battery and power electronics, meaning the Ioniq 5’s dashboard touchscreen still accurately displays the remaining state of charge.
The user experience is refreshingly simple. You climb in, twist the drive selector forward to ‘D’ just as you would in a standard Ioniq, and prepare for a familiar journey. However, the moment you touch the accelerator, you realize nothing is familiar at all.
Even in its default, most conservative mode, the car feels remarkably safe and confidence-inspiring on the slick surface. Where Hyundai’s factory systems would have brutally cut power and refused to give it back, Elaphe’s system is a masterclass in subtlety. As I initiate a turn, the vehicle gently reduces power—so smoothly that I can keep my right foot pinned to the floor and simply drive around the corner. The system simultaneously increases regenerative braking on the inside wheels, helping the chassis rotate, but it never oversteps, never inducing the snap oversteer that plagued the stock car. There’s a reassuring hint of understeer, just enough to warn a novice driver against pushing too hard, but not enough to scrub off all the fun.
From this baseline of controlled competence, drivers can escalate through Sport and Sport Plus modes, each offering increased levels of responsiveness and power. In Sport Plus, the car eagerly embraces moderate drifts. The throttle response becomes significantly sharper, yet if the rear end begins to hang out too far, the vehicle gracefully reins it back in. Again, this is achieved through the magic of individual-wheel regenerative braking, smoothly modulating torque without the jarring intervention of ABS hardware.
But Elaphe has saved the best for last: **Drift Mode**. This is where the gloves come off. While the system still provides a subtle safety net, it essentially grants the driver free rein. The formerly docile Ioniq 5 transforms into an absolute hooligan on the ice. Tight corners become opportunities for dramatic, sweeping slides, while faster bends allow for controlled power-on drifts. The car behaves with a clean, predictable precision—no abrupt power cuts, no clumsy electronic interventions. When my drifting begins to falter, a subtle nudge from the motors helps maintain the angle, but otherwise, I’m free to pivot and swing this 4,600-pound electric SUV with abandon.
A crucial question arises: what about the impact of this additional unsprung mass? Each hub motor weighs approximately 60 pounds. Intuitively, bolting such weight to the wheels should decimate a car’s handling prowess, right? Elaphe CEO Gorazd Gotovac dismisses this notion vehemently. “The top test drivers in the top performance OEMs would disagree,” he asserted during our discussion. “From my perspective, that’s enough for me.”
Gotovac concedes that for premium luxury vehicles, the increased unsprung weight could introduce challenges regarding ride quality. However, he argues that these are not insurmountable obstacles, merely requiring more sophisticated suspension damping solutions. He firmly believes that the idea of in-wheel motors degrading handling performance is a persistent myth. “High-mu, low-mu, on tarmac and on ice, we prove that every day to OEMs,” he stated with conviction.
Admittedly, this is one aspect of the evaluation I cannot fully address. The frozen lake surfaces we sampled were meticulously groomed for our testing, eliminating the typical surface imperfections that would truly challenge the suspension. However, the theoretical implications of that additional mass are significant, yet Gotovac insists the potential benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
By relocating the drive motors to the wheels, Elaphe liberates valuable packaging space within the chassis. This freed-up volume can be utilized for larger battery packs, increased cargo capacity, or an overall optimization of the vehicle’s interior layout. Even in this modified Ioniq 5, which typically features a comically small front trunk, the removal of the traditional front motor resulted in a cavernous, empty space under the hood.
Beyond mere packaging advantages, Elaphe argues that vehicles designed from the ground up to incorporate their hub motors can be significantly lighter overall. This weight reduction stems from the ability to utilize smaller braking systems and eliminate the need for traditional reduction gearsets and differentials, which are notorious power-sapping components. By optimizing the entire vehicle architecture around in-wheel motors, Elaphe estimates that manufacturers could reduce production costs by as much as 10 percent, thanks to the combined savings from lighter structures and smaller battery requirements.
Servicing the brakes, which are now somewhat recessed behind the motors, also presents an interesting proposition. Once the wheel is removed, three exposed bolt heads are visible. A simple loosening of these bolts, the insertion of retaining pins to secure the motor’s rotor and stator assembly, and an electrical disconnection allow the entire motor unit to be lifted straight off. The process appears remarkably straightforward. Furthermore, the hub motors are designed to accommodate substantial brake diameters, up to nearly 14.8 inches, with Elaphe’s hypercar-spec units supporting rotors up to 15.7 inches. This ensures that performance braking capabilities are in no way compromised.
Transitioning from the electric crossover to a demonstration of pure American muscle, I had the opportunity to experience Elaphe’s technology in a modified **prototype pony car**. This particular vehicle, which Elaphe understandably requested remain unidentified, was not originally designed for this application. Consequently, its engineers had to perform a rather dramatic surgery, removing the rear seats and replacing them with a compact 9.0-kWh battery, a 200-kW inverter, and all the requisite high-voltage cabling.
With the stock 5.0-liter V8 engine still providing 500 horsepower to the rear wheels, and each of the front hub motors capable of delivering 148 horsepower (limited to a combined 268 hp by the 200-kW battery), the car gains a significant horsepower advantage over the standard configuration. However, the more profound transformation occurs in low-grip handling scenarios.
On a patch of particularly polished ice, I attempted to accelerate the stock version of this vehicle forward. The result was predictable: the rear
