Promoting new breakthroughs in the electric vehicle industry

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) recently announced that the development of motor technology has entered a new era and will have a profound impact on the performance of electric vehicles. According to the Technology Trends Director of the Advanced Advancement Research and Development Center (APC) in the UK, the most talked about in the development of electric vehicles is the battery, and the motor has not received much attention. This situation will change in the future.

Most electric vehicle motors follow the same basic principle, that is, tightly wound coils interact with powerful magnets to drive the motor to rotate. However, the current limitation lies in how to effectively dissipate heat while increasing the speed and reducing the volume.

British automaker Equipmake's solution is to rearrange the magnets of the motor so that they are placed like the spokes of the wheel. This not only increases the torque (the power that causes rotation), but also allows the cooling water to flow directly through the magnet to improve the heat dissipation function. The company also uses additive manufacturing technology, or 3D printing technology, to improve heat dissipation and reduce costs. Other manufacturers are also considering the transformation through technologies such as in-wheel motors. Car manufacturer Protean Electric believes that in-wheel motors can improve handling performance, reduce weight and optimize the weight distribution of the vehicle, which means farther cruising range or the same cruising range with less power consumption, while reducing noise, increasing space, etc. There has also been a lot of improvement.

APC is a research and development institution jointly established by the British government and the automotive industry. At present, it has formulated a road map for the future development of motors: it is expected that by 2025, the cost per kilowatt will be reduced by nearly half, and the power density is three times the past. For motors that produce the same power, their weight and package size will be only one-third of what they are now, and costs will also fall.