With increasing migration from petroleum to electric-power, the electric powertrain market is expected to grow rapidly to around €11 billion by 2020.

The equity investment round was led by Emerald Technology Ventures, with Ilmarinen, LähiTapiola, Suffice International, Sinituote, Finnish Industry Investment, VNT Management, Green Campus Innovations and Visedo’s employees participating in the funding.

Electrification improves machine performance, while achieving significant fuel savings and reductions in noise and emissions. These are essential factors for industrial clients and original equipment manufacturers. Thanks to its superior powertrain design and unique business model, Visedo is a winner in this business.

—Charles Vaslet, Partner at Emerald Technology Ventures

One of the long-term investors in Visedo, Sinituote Oy, becomes the largest shareholder after the funding round. Sinituote is a successful Finnish family office and also one of the few supporting smaller Finnish SME’s both financially and by sharing their experience and vision in business development.

Visedo electric machines.Visedo electric machines are based on synchronous reluctance assisted permanent magnet technology (SRPM)—combining the benefits from PM and synchronous reluctance motor technologies. They are liquid-cooled and designed to work as traction motors in harsh operating environments. SRPM machines deliver improved performance through accurate control and fast response, Visedo says.

Compared to conventional technologies, such as induction machines (IM) or standard permanent magnet motors (PM), Visedo SRPM motors offer smaller dimensions, lighter weight and higher efficiency, the company says.

The motors are available in various speed and torque ratings in both Visedo machine series:

• PowerDRUM with power up to 4,000 kW—high torque with high efficiency
• PowerDISK with power up to 75 kW—short axial length to fit in tight spaces

PowerDRUM motors are available in longer or more compact versions.

Visedo also offers a supercapacitor-based energy storage system, based on third-party cells and Visedo’s own capacitor management system (CMS). For power electronics, Visedo offers three main product groups: PowerMASTER inverters and frequency converters; PowerBOOST DC-to-DC converters; and PowerCOMBO multiconverters—a combination of inverters and DC-to-DC converters.

French bus manufacturer Safra selected Visedo as the supplier of a full-electric drivetrain its the new Businova hybrid bus. A typical electric drivetrain in hybrid buses can reach an average efficiency of 73%; the Visedo solution, however, reaches more than 90%, and can maintain the vehicle’s high efficiency even with heavy loads, the company says.

The new buses are already in serial production, and the first vehicles are being delivered to various cities in France, for example Toulouse, Gaillac and Albi.