In Issue 49, we reviewed some of the more promising advancements in materials and construction techniques for EV traction motors, one of which—the axial flux design—will be the focus of this article. Despite being characterized as an advanced construction technique, the axial flux design is actually one of the oldest ways of constructing a motor—it’s… Read more »
Search Results Found For: "rare earth"
Draper wins patent for electrostatic motor
Draper is developing a family of electric motors and generators based on fundamentally different principles from common e-motors used today. Underpinning the initiative is a recent patent on aspects of the technology. Draper says its approach to electric motors has numerous advantages over conventional electric motors, including lower weight, higher efficiency, higher specific power and… Read more »
OXIS Energy to power luxury yacht with Li-S batteries
Yachts de Luxe (YdL) of Singapore has signed a ten-year contract with Oxis Energy valued at $5 million to build the world’s first luxury boat to be powered by Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) batteries. The objective is to achieve a range of 70 to 100 nautical miles at cruising speed. Oxis will work with YdL to design… Read more »
Momentum Technologies licenses ORNL process to recover metals from batteries
Momentum Technologies, a Dallas-based materials science company focused on extracting critical metals from electronic waste, has licensed a process developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for recovering cobalt and other metals from spent Li-ion batteries. Several critical elements, such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese, are used in EV batteries. Using ORNL’s Membrane… Read more »
Linear Labs raises $6 million to expand EV motor manufacturing in Texas
Electric motor manufacturer Linear Labs has raised an additional $6 million in funding to further develop manufacturing capabilities and grow its employee base. The new capital raise comes shortly after the announcement of a $68.9-million partnership with the City of Fort Worth, Texas, which includes an incentive package for Linear Labs’ plans to develop an… Read more »
Advances In Switched Reluctance Motors: The Future of Mobility
Today’s EVs are primarily driven by permanent magnet motors. The future of these motors depend on the availability of rare earth minerals, which are environmentally devastating to produce and monopolized by one country, China. Switched reluctance motors (SRMs) are an emerging alternative, with decades of reliability testing in zero-fault-tolerant applications, and no rare earths…. Read more »
Bentley looks to the future of EV motors
Bentley Motors has concluded a three-year research study intended to transform EV powertrains, using a fully integrated e-axle that doesn’t use rare earth magnets. Bentley’s OCTOPUS (Optimised Components, Test and simulatiOn, toolkits for Powertrains which integrate Ultra high-speed motor Solutions) study led to an electric drive system that eliminates the need for both rare earth… Read more »
Emerging Technologies In Power Electronics For Electric Vehicles
Today’s EVs are not being designed like conventional gasoline vehicles where all the components are under the hood. Rather skateboard designs are being used where the skateboard holds the batteries and traction drive system. This requires much higher power density, low profile designs for research in highly integrated power modules, high voltage inverters, non-heavy… Read more »
BMW expands E-drive production capacity
At its largest European manufacturing location in Dingolfing, Germany, BMW recently opened the Competence Centre for E-Drive Production. Having produced electric powertrain components in Dingolfing since 2013, the BMW Group is now expanding its capacity. Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder and Chairman of the Board Oliver Zipse symbolically launched the production of the new, highly integrated… Read more »
Specialized motor materials and constructions (Part 2)
The previous article in this two-part series looked at specialized materials that are (or will be) used in motors; the focus this time will be on the innovative methods of construction that make motors more suitable for EV traction applications. Separating the wheat from the chaff is especially important here, because hyperbole (and outright fantasy)… Read more »