Supplier Claims Cut-Price EV Motor

Philip Oakley

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4th November 2019

Canadian Automotive supplier Magna International has said it can cut the cost of EV motors in half with its latest development.

Despite the bargain basement price, it also claims its new motor will boast eight times the power density. The motor is said to deliver 125kW of peak power, with the cost reduction coming as part of the removal of rare earth permanent magnet metals. This means the motor will be an AC induction motor, a technology that most automakers and suppliers have moved away with the improvement of permanent magnet DC motors over the last decade.

Magna says that the project involves “innovative materials and cooling techniques”; however, it has not yet released enough details to see where these gains in efficiency are coming from, or if it is comparing it against a regular AC motor, or a DC motor.