Ricardo Touts Low-Cost Traction Motor for EVs
Ricardo UK Ltd. has developed a prototype 85-kW motor for electric vehicles that uses no costly rare earths and features a simple design and manufacturing process.
#hybrid
Ricardo UK Ltd. has developed a prototype 85-kW motor for electric vehicles that uses no costly rare earths and features a simple design and manufacturing process.
Ricardo's design is a synchronous reluctance motor (SRM) that uses a steel rotor and stator electromagnets instead of rotor windings and permanent magnets. The design uses a controller to energize each stator winding at the moment it can contribute useful torque.
SRMs are robust and promise attractive efficiency over a broad range of loads. But they also can be hampered by low-speed "torque ripple" and noise. Ricardo says it overcame both issues with a rotor made of cut steel laminations that better focus flux across the air gap between rotor and stator.
The motor was developed under the U.K.'s Rapid SR project, an R&D effort co-funded by Innovate UK. The project is headed by Cobham Technical Services and Jaguar Land Rover.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Bolt EV: Like a Hammer Through a Screen
Some of you may remember the Apple “1984” commercial that ran on January 22, 1984, the ad that announced the Macintosh to the world.
-
Aluminum Sheet for EV Battery Enclosure
As the number of electric vehicles (EVs) is about to increase almost exponentially, aluminum supplier Novelis is preparing to provide customers with protective solutions
-
On Ford Maverick, Toyota Tundra Hybrid, and GM's Factory Footprint
GM is transforming its approach to the auto market—and its factories. Ford builds a small truck for the urban market. Toyota builds a full-size pickup and uses a hybrid instead of a diesel. And Faurecia thinks that hydrogen is where the industry is going.