Electric Wheel motors have been used before. The LeTourneau had an electric wheel back in the 1950s. This was IIRC mainly used for Earth moving equipment though.
They probably don't make sense on cars though as explained by other people here.
So it does. I was recalling Porsche lore from memory and thought I had a correct reference. Iirc Porsche built an electric 4-motor (hub) car for the Paris Expo about this time…
Oh, here we go:
> In 1900, at the Paris Exposition Universelle…[0]
They probably don't make sense on cars though as explained by other people here.