There are probably a range of application where in-wheel makes perfect sense.
Do e-bikes really need significantly more power than they have? They already run arguably dangerously fast for their application. Is efficiency not the primary target there?
I think large drones will be another place where a downsized version of this motor will make a huge difference, assuming the power scales nicely with size.
Wouldn't that make it worse or just ... different. Before this the unsprung weight wouldn't have had a motor in there and now it does. Increasing the unsprung weight doesn't seem a like a good thing.
https://electrek.co/2023/04/27/saab-engineers-develop-secret...