Hub motors and a planetary gearbox: the 2026 powertrain

For the 2026 season, AUMT's primary engineering objective is the transition to a hub-motor powertrain. It sets the technical foundation for the team's next generations of cars.

Why hub motors?

Moving the motors into the wheels removes the central motor, chain and differential of our previous cars, and opens the door to controlling drive torque at each driven wheel independently.

Starting with the gearbox

The move begins with the design of a planetary gearbox that sits inside the wheel, a process expected to run through the first half of the season. Gear design and analysis is being done in KISSsoft, whose industry-leading gear design software, provided through their sponsorship, lets our members refine the gearbox with the same tools used across professional drivetrain engineering.

Wheels and uprights

Alongside the gearbox, the team is comparing 10-inch and 13-inch wheels to find the best option for weight, packaging and performance, while designing new uprights tailored to the hub motor layout and the chosen wheel size.

A combined effort

2026 is the first season as one team with UniSA Motorsport. Both teams use SOLIDWORKS for CAD and the ANSYS suite for finite element analysis, and shared design data management means the whole team can work on the new powertrain together.