As Combat UGVs Prove Strategically Decisive Across Modern Battlefields, Armed Forces Face Critical Bottleneck with Conventional Electric Motors Often Failing in Difficult Terrain. The New ESOX X2 Features Four ESOX Theron In-Wheel Motors Delivering More Power and Torque Than Any Other Electric Motor in the World. New X2 Also Features Solid-State Battery Pack That Stores Twice the Energy of the Lithium-Ion Cells Used in Existing EV Military Ground Vehicles Operating in the Field.
Conventional electric powertrains were engineered for paved roads. They rely on gearboxes, driveshafts and drivetrains that add weight, waste power and create multiple failure points. On the battlefield, mud, sand, snow and rubble expose these core weakness: the motors lose torque exactly where the terrain gets most difficult, and the vehicles often stop moving. Electric powertrains designed for normal roads simply cannot deliver the sustained torque needed under payload and gradient while encountering real combat conditions.
“The new X2 solves this Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) core weaknesses with four Theron in-wheel motors delivering combined torque of 1000 Nm, 250 Nm per corner and that torque goes directly to the wheel, eliminating the gearbox and driveshaft entirely,” comments Devan Roberts, Vice President of Defense Programs. “In-wheel motors delivering more power and torque than any other electric motor on the market means that no terrain, gradient or payload will stop them.”
The new X2 is powered with an 8kWh ESOX solid-state battery pack in two 4 kWh modules. The pack carries twice the energy density of the best lithium-ion cells currently fielded in military platforms, so the same weight takes the new ESOX platform twice as far and in the fight twice as long.
The platform weighs 300 kg and has been tested with up to 300 kg of payload. ESOX projects a payload capacity of up to 600 kg with further development. The Theron motors operate near-silent and run cold which keeps the vehicle’s thermal and acoustic signature low. That matters because most sensor systems in use today are built around detecting engine heat.
The new Esox X2 UGV is fully integrated with ESOX OS, a software layer which allows the vehicle to be built and proven in digital simulation before any hardware is assembled. Once fielded, the vehicle streams telematics and sensor data live and receives over-the-air software updates, keeping performance improving across the fleet’s lifetime. The new ESOX X2 can swap sensor packages, autonomy modes, and communications layers, or adjust to mission-specific configurations, all without touching the vehicle’s core hardware.
“The X2 is a platform, not a single product. The same in-wheel motors, solid-state batteries, electronics and ESOX OS software can be configured into whatever vehicle the mission demands,” continues Roberts. “Our clients can license the platform and build their own variants on top, using our core technologies for whatever configuration that they need.”
For additional information about ESOX, please visit https://esoxgroup.com/.
About ESOX:
ESOX Group builds the core of unmanned warfare: the power, propulsion and intelligence that decide who wins. The company builds ready platforms that others can build on and extend, and sells the technologies inside them on their own. Its platforms run one shared stack: the X2 unmanned ground vehicle, the X1 interceptor drone already in the air, and the upcoming X3 heavy lift quadcopter. Learn more at esoxgroup.com.