What Exactly Is a Hub Motor?

Hub motors are a type of DC motor that differs from other designs in one fundamental way: they have no commutator and no brush mechanism to generate power in the windings.

Inside a hub motor

Within a hub motor, the stator remains stationary. It consists of a core and slots into which copper windings are placed. The majority of hub motors use trapezoidal windings.

To ensure proper commutation, an external driver circuit supplies a DC pulse to the stator windings, magnetizing each slot at specific times. This is precisely the role of the motor controller in a complete drive system.

On the inner circumference of the rotor sits a series of magnets — permanent magnets arranged in alternating magnetic fields running north-south-north-south around the ring.

How it produces motion

Hub motors operate on the same principles of electromagnetism as induction motors: the electromagnets in the stator and the permanent magnets in the rotor attract and repel each other in sequence, producing rotation. Because the motor sits inside the wheel hub itself, the design eliminates chains, belts and gears — which is why it dominates the single shaft hub motor and spoke motor categories for e-bikes and light electric vehicles.

If you are considering a hub motor for a build or a product line, it also helps to understand how the supporting electronics work — see our guide on how to match an ebike controller to a motor before specifying a system.