UK Project to Boost EV Power by Cutting Vibration

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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3rd December 2019

A project to explore ways to boost EV performance by reducing power sapping vibration has been started in the UK.

British engineering specialist, Drive System Design (DSD) is the lead partner in a new project that seeks to improve the efficiency of the integrated electric drive unit (EDU) of BEVs. It says one of the easiest ways to boost performance is to focus on noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) challenges that seriously deplete the electric powertrain’s potential energy efficiencies.

The 12-month project, part-funded by Innovate UK and with the National Composites Centre as partner, will investigate the use of composites to enable increased power density and reduced unit size.

It hopes to address the issue of balancing NVH and efficiency in two parallel areas. The first will look to increase the EDU efficiency through targeted use of composite material that could dampen NVH and reduce its negative effects on the drive unit. The second area is looking at using composite sleeves to enclose a rotor to make it scalable for high volume manufacture, enabling higher power density eMotors, in turn helping to reduce unit mass and size.

Markus Hose, DSD head of mechanical engineering, said: “Vehicle range at reasonable cost is still one of the biggest barriers to widespread adoption of EVs, so technology that can increase this through efficiency gains, without adding significantly to unit cost, are crucial. Vehicle manufacturers are facing increasing packaging challenges as they seek to incorporate higher performance EDUs into latest designs, so power density improvements will offer a key competitive advantage.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_