X2 is built as a licensable propulsion architecture, not a one-off vehicle
(Image courtesy of ESOX Group)
ESOX Group has recently completed development of its X2 unmanned ground vehicle and opened the platform to customer pilot programmes. The UGV replaces the gearbox and driveshaft of conventional electric platforms with four in-wheel motors delivering a combined 1,000 Nm of torque directly to the wheels, addressing a failure mode that has stalled electric ground robots in mud, sand and rubble.
In-wheel motors remove the drivetrain’s weak points
Conventional electric UGV powertrains were adapted from road-going designs, and their gearboxes and driveshafts add weight and create additional points of failure. ESOX says its four Theron in-wheel motors, delivering 250 Nm per corner, send torque straight to each wheel and eliminate those components entirely. Devan Roberts, ESOX’s VP of Defence Programmes, said the configuration delivers more power and torque than any other electric motor currently on the market, and that no terrain, gradient or payload should stop the platform as a result. The motors also run cold and near-silent, which ESOX says keeps the vehicle’s thermal and acoustic signature low against sensor systems built to detect engine heat.
Solid-state battery claims twice the density of fielded lithium-ion cells
That reduced signature sits alongside a bigger energy budget. X2 carries an 8 kWh solid-state battery pack split into two 4 kWh modules, which ESOX says stores roughly twice the energy of the lithium-ion cells currently fielded in military ground vehicles at the same weight. The 300 kg platform has been tested carrying up to 300 kg of payload, with ESOX projecting a 600 kg payload capacity with further development.
The architecture is built to be licensed
Powering and carrying the payload is only half of what ESOX is selling. X2 runs on ESOX OS, a software layer that lets the vehicle be built and proven in digital simulation before any hardware is assembled, then stream telematics and sensor data live and receive over-the-air software updates once fielded. Sensor packages, autonomy modes and communications layers can be swapped without touching the core propulsion hardware. Roberts describes X2 as a base architecture that customers can license to build their own variants on top, using ESOX’s motors, batteries, electronics and software in whatever configuration a mission demands, an approach that could shorten development cycles for buyers who would otherwise need to requalify propulsion for every mission-specific configuration.
With customer pilots now open, the practical test for X2 will be whether independent evaluation bears out the torque and energy-density figures ESOX has put forward, and how quickly the licensing model translates into fielded variants.
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