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Donut Lab’s hollow motor is a ring-shaped, direct-drive in-wheel motor with an open center. That opening lets axles, structural members, wiring, load paths and other hardware pass through the motor, giving vehicle designers freedom that conventional hub motors and centralized drivetrains do not.
The technology is real and has a production reference in Verge electric motorcycles. But the larger promise—from lightweight cars and smart trailers to heavy-lift aircraft and robotics—remains a mixture of announced partnerships, development programs and company claims. As of August 18, 2026, Donut Lab has demonstrated a compelling packaging architecture, not yet a wholesale transformation of transportation.
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The wheel you can see through
Verge Motorcycles made the concept famous with an electric motorcycle whose rear wheel appears to have no conventional hub. Instead of placing a motor around a central axle and transmitting power through a chain, belt or gearbox, the wheel is driven by a ring-shaped motor around its perimeter.
That technology now sits inside Donut Lab, a technology company spun out of Verge. Donut Lab is pitching the motor as part of a wider platform comprising motors, batteries, inverters, vehicle controls, battery-management systems and software.
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The original concept was reported by New Atlas in December 2024. Since then, Donut Lab has published a motor family and announced applications ranging from motorcycles and trailers to robotic equipment, tracked vehicles, electric cars and aircraft.
What is a hollow motor?
A hollow motor is an annular, or ring-shaped, electric motor. Its stator and rotor are arranged around a central opening. The rotor produces torque directly at the wheel or other rotating assembly, rather than turning a conventional central shaft.
Several terms describe related but different ideas:
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- In-wheel motor: a motor positioned at the wheel.
- Direct drive: propulsion without a separate reduction gearbox or transmission between motor and driven wheel.
- Hubless motorcycle: the visual result of moving the wheel’s drive hardware away from a traditional central hub. A hubless-looking wheel does not necessarily use the same motor design.
Donut Lab says its motors eliminate conventional power-transmission components and deliver propulsion directly at the wheel. The open center is the feature that makes the design particularly interesting: a mechanical shaft, suspension or steering structure, cable, bearing arrangement or industrial load path can occupy space that a conventional motor would block.
Why the central opening matters
In a normal electric vehicle, a central motor may drive an e-axle, differential and half-shafts. That arrangement is relatively mature and keeps the motor away from wheel impacts and road contamination. It also consumes chassis space and does not normally provide completely independent control of every wheel.
A hollow in-wheel motor can potentially:
- Drive each wheel independently.
- Remove driveshafts, chains, belts, differentials and reduction gears.
- Free space within the vehicle body.
- Allow a shaft or structural member to pass through a rotating assembly.
- Support torque vectoring through software-controlled wheel torque.
- Be adapted to wheels, tracks, robotic joints, trailers or other rotating mechanisms.
That does not mean the opening automatically makes a vehicle lighter, cheaper or more efficient. The complete system still needs bearings, seals, cooling, power electronics, brakes, sensors, wiring and structural reinforcement. A motor-only weight figure is not the same as the mass of a complete wheel-end assembly.
How it compares with other electric drivetrains
| Architecture | Strengths | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|
| Central motor and e-axle | Mature, protected from impacts, relatively low unsprung mass | Requires gears, differential and half-shafts; less flexible packaging |
| Conventional in-wheel motor | Compact drivetrain and independent wheel control | Adds mass at the wheel and faces demanding cooling and durability conditions |
| Hollow/direct-drive ring motor | Open-center packaging, direct propulsion and potentially precise wheel control | Large bearing, sealing, brake, shock, thermal and repair challenges |
Donut Lab’s novelty is therefore not the invention of electric wheel motors. In-wheel motors have been explored by multiple manufacturers and research groups. Its distinction is the particular open-center implementation and the attempt to supply a scalable hardware-and-software platform across several industries.
Donut Lab’s published motor family
Donut Lab’s current motor page lists these headline figures:
| Motor | Maximum power | Torque | Mass | Suggested applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-inch | 15 kW | 300 Nm | 8 kg | Scooters, mopeds, construction equipment and trailers |
| 17-inch enclosed | 150 kW | 1,200 Nm | 21 kg | Cars, buggies, drones, trucks and construction equipment |
| 17-inch open | 150 kW | 1,200 Nm | 21 kg | High-performance applications, including motorcycles |
| 21-inch | 630 kW | 4,300 Nm | 40 kg | High-end automotive applications |
| 5-inch drone motor | 3 kW | 20 Nm | 1.5 kg | Upcoming heavy-lift drone applications |
| Custom | Company-specific | Company-specific | Company-specific | Tailored integrations |
These are manufacturer-published maximum or target figures, not an independent test report. The published information does not, by itself, establish continuous power, peak-duration limits, efficiency maps, voltage, cooling requirements, thermal derating, braking integration, certification or compatibility with every wheel and tire.
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Torque figures also need careful interpretation. Peak motor torque, continuous torque, wheel torque and torque delivered after gearing are not interchangeable. Likewise, the listed motor mass may exclude an inverter, wiring, cooling hardware, bearings, brakes, wheel structure and suspension components.
Donut Lab announced its first motor family at CES in February 2025, presenting five motor models intended to cover multiple vehicle categories. The company has since positioned the motor as one part of an integrated platform rather than a standalone drop-in component.
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The Donut Platform is bigger than the motor
Donut Lab’s stated business model is to provide vehicle developers with a coordinated set of components:
- In-wheel motors.
- Battery systems.
- Inverters and motor-control hardware.
- Vehicle-control systems.
- Battery-management systems.
- Software and the planned DonutOS operating layer.
The pitch is partly technical and partly commercial. Vehicle startups and specialist manufacturers can spend substantial time integrating components from multiple suppliers. Donut Lab wants one electrical and software architecture to support several bodies or vehicle types, reducing integration work and making unusual layouts easier to develop. That is a platform-supplier strategy aimed at OEMs, not a retail motor-kit business.
What is actually using the technology?
Verge Motorcycles: the clearest production reference
Verge is the origin of the technology and the strongest publicly identified production example. Donut Lab says its 17-inch open motor has been used in Verge motorcycles for years, with customer deliveries underway since early 2023.
Donut Lab’s current platform material positions the Verge TS Pro as a production motorcycle using Donut in-wheel motor and all-solid-state battery technology. The company cites charging in less than 10 minutes, up to 60 km of combined range per charging minute and a long-range version with 600 km of range.
Those figures should be treated as Donut Lab claims until confirmed for a specific model, battery configuration, market edition, charging hardware, temperature and test procedure. The battery claims are also separate from proof of the motor’s superiority.
Roborigger AR5: a practical hollow-center use case
Roborigger selected a 12-inch Donut motor for its AR5 robotic load-orientation system. Donut Lab highlights the fact that a load path can pass through the motor’s center.
This may be one of the most persuasive applications for the architecture. A robotic joint or load-control device can benefit directly from an unobstructed center, without requiring the dramatic vehicle packaging changes shown in concept cars. It also demonstrates why the technology may be useful beyond road vehicles.
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Cova Power smart trailers
Donut Lab says Cova Power, a joint venture with Ahola Group, is developing series-production smart trailers using Donut motors, batteries and platform software. The company claims up to 54% lower diesel consumption and up to 30% lower total energy use.
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WATT/WEVC PACES skateboard
Donut Lab and WATT Electric Vehicles announced a lightweight aluminum skateboard platform incorporating Donut in-wheel motors, inverters, software and battery technology. The platform is intended to support multiple lightweight vehicle types, such as sports cars, beach buggies and delivery vehicles. A four-wheel-drive version was expected later in 2026, according to the announcement.
The PACES platform illustrates the platform thesis: a common electrical base could support multiple body designs. It is not, however, evidence that finished consumer vehicles using the platform are available to buy.
Oruga Unitrack
Oruga’s Unitrack is a tracked or single-track all-terrain vehicle combining elements of a dirt bike, snowmobile, tank tread and three-wheel ATV. It is intended for rock, snow, mud and sand.
New Atlas described the Unitrack as still in development in December 2024. Unless a later official update establishes production availability, it should be classified as a development vehicle rather than a commercially validated product.
HyperQ Rotorhawk
HyperQ Aerospace’s Rotorhawk is described as a remotely operated heavy-lift VTOL aircraft for logistics, emergency response, firefighting, military and agricultural missions. Donut Lab presents it as a development-partner application that could benefit from modular motors and a flexible architecture.
Payload, speed, range, flight-test results, certification and operational readiness remain separate questions. A motor suitable for a road vehicle is not automatically suitable for aviation. Aircraft applications require extensive validation, redundancy, fault containment and regulatory approval.
Hypercars, drones and other targets
Donut Lab also promotes high-end automotive studies, heavy-lift drones, construction equipment, off-road vehicles, military equipment and other possible applications. These categories show the breadth of the company’s ambition, but they should be described as studies, target markets or development programs unless independent evidence establishes a production deployment.
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The engineering problems the hollow motor does not remove
Unsprung mass
The central objection to in-wheel motors is mass at the wheel. Unsprung mass moves with the wheel rather than being supported by the suspension. More of it can reduce suspension compliance, ride quality, grip on rough surfaces and handling precision.
Donut Lab says its design reduces this compromise, but an unusual motor architecture cannot make the fundamental physics disappear. The relevant comparison is the mass and inertia of the complete wheel assembly against a complete centralized drivetrain, not the motor headline alone.
Cooling and continuous performance
High torque and power generate heat. A useful engineering assessment would need continuous-output data, cooling method, thermal derating behavior, operating temperature range and performance after repeated acceleration, hill climbing or heavy towing.
A motor that can briefly produce 150 kW is not necessarily a motor that can sustain 150 kW. This distinction is particularly important for trucks, construction equipment, aircraft and trailers.
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The open center requires large bearings or an equivalent load-bearing arrangement. Wheel loads, cornering forces, braking torque, impacts and side loads must pass through the wheel-end system. The motor may be compact while the full structural assembly is not.
Brakes and fail-safe behavior
Regenerative braking can slow a vehicle, but road vehicles still need friction brakes or another fail-safe stopping system. Engineers must decide where the brake fits, how it is serviced and what happens if the motor, inverter, communications link or control software fails.
Independent wheel motors also require robust fault detection. A vehicle needs predictable behavior if one motor loses communication, produces unintended torque or stops working. Aircraft applications demand still higher levels of redundancy and fault tolerance.
Sealing and durability
A wheel-mounted motor is exposed to impacts, water, mud, dust, salt, vibration and temperature changes. The bearings, magnets, windings, sensors and connections must survive those conditions. Off-road, construction and marine environments are especially demanding.
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Removing chains, belts, shafts, gears and differentials could reduce routine drivetrain maintenance. But it may also concentrate more functions in an expensive wheel-end module. A conventional drivetrain can often be repaired one component at a time; damage to a motor, bearing or integrated wheel structure could be more costly.
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Software and cybersecurity
Torque vectoring and independent propulsion are powerful capabilities, but they increase dependence on sensors, communications and software. A production system needs secure updates, fault logging, isolation of failed components and a safe response to control or cybersecurity problems.
What has been proven—and what remains a pitch?
The evidence supports several measured conclusions:
- Demonstrated: Verge motorcycles use the technology, and Donut Lab says the motor is in continuous production use with Verge.
- Published: Donut Lab now provides model-level headline power, torque and mass figures.
- Announced or demonstrated: the company has publicized Roborigger, Cova Power, WATT/WEVC, Oruga and HyperQ applications.
- Not independently established by the supplied evidence: broad claims about exceptional power density, complete-vehicle weight savings, cost reductions, long-term reliability across vehicle categories, aircraft readiness or mass-market suitability.
The distinction matters because a real motorcycle deployment does not prove that the same architecture is ready for a heavy truck, a drone or a certified aircraft. Each application changes the requirements for cooling, bearings, sealing, braking, redundancy, service and regulation.
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Could it create a new era of vehicles?
For specialty vehicles, the answer could be yes. A hollow center is unusually valuable when a designer needs to route a load path through a rotating assembly, fit propulsion into a constrained space, control each wheel independently or build a vehicle around a modular skateboard. Robotics, industrial machinery, trailers and unconventional off-road vehicles may gain more from that freedom than ordinary family cars.
For mainstream cars, the case is less obvious. Centralized motors and e-axles are mature, protected and already highly integrated. They keep heavy hardware away from the wheels and benefit from established manufacturing, supplier networks and service procedures. An automaker will adopt an in-wheel platform only if its packaging or performance benefits outweigh the costs of durability validation, unsprung mass, wheel-end complexity and certification.
Donut Lab’s ambition also depends on execution. A platform supplier must manufacture consistently, secure battery and motor supply, support customers, provide replacement parts and prove reliability over years of varied use. Partner announcements and striking prototypes are important signals, but they are not substitutes for production volume and independent operating data.
How to evaluate future Donut Lab claims
- Ask whether the figure is peak or continuous. Look for duty cycle, duration, cooling and thermal derating.
- Check the system boundary. Confirm whether mass includes the inverter, bearings, brakes, cooling, wheel and suspension hardware.
- Identify the product status. Separate customer deliveries, production programs, prototypes, development vehicles and concepts.
- Demand application-specific evidence. Motorcycle use does not validate aircraft or heavy-truck use.
- Check the test conditions. Range, charging and energy-saving claims depend on battery configuration, payload, route, temperature and test method.
- Compare the complete vehicle. The relevant result is ride, efficiency, reliability, cost and serviceability—not a motor specification in isolation.
Verdict
Donut Lab has a credible and visually compelling engineering proposition: a ring-shaped direct-drive motor can put propulsion at the wheel while leaving its center available for structures and other mechanisms. Verge motorcycles provide a real production reference, and robotics or specialty trailers may be especially well matched to the design.
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But the phrase “new era” currently describes the scale of the ambition more confidently than the evidence. Donut Lab has moved beyond a motorcycle novelty toward a published motor family and broader hardware-and-software platform, yet many of its most dramatic applications remain under development. The hollow motor may enable genre-warping vehicles—but whether it becomes a mainstream drivetrain will depend on continuous performance, durability, complete-system weight, cost, certification and long-term production support.
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