PML Flightlink was a

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

based firm specialising in the design and manufacture of "pancake" (flat)

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate for ...

s. The company operated for over 30 years in a number of markets including defense, aerospace, mobility, motion control, processing and printing. In 2006, they demonstrated an in-wheel electric motor for

cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people in ...

called the

Hi-Pa Drive The Hi-Pa Drive (pronounced ''hyper'') system is an electric in-wheel motor power delivery system. Demonstration vehicles In 2006, PML Flightlink demonstrated the Hi-Pa Drive in a series-hybrid car at the British Motor Show in London, using a Mi ...

at the British Motor Show in London, using a

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

dubbed the "Mini QED." Two other car manufacturers have also presented

concept cars A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

using this technology:

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

in its Volvo ReCharge, and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

with a

Ford F150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. ...

pick-up prototype presented at the 2008 SEMA Show in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Administration and split

On 28 November 2008 by UK court order PML was put into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

(insolvency handling in the UK similar to

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

in the United States). After the court case, PML was split in two in 2009: Protean Electric continue to develop automotive in-wheel motor applications of the Hi-Pa Drive; and Printed Motor Works design and manufacture Printed Armature/Pancake electric motors, joysticks and drive systems.{{cite web , title=Pancake motor maker does the splits , url=http://www.drives.co.uk/fullstory.asp?id=2637 , date=July 2009 , publisher=Drives & Controls , accessdate=15 September 2009 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816081917/http://www.drives.co.uk/fullstory.asp?id=2637 , archive-date=16 August 2009 , url-status=dead

References

Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Companies disestablished in 2009