Mercedes-Benz has acquired YASA, a pioneer in next-generation electric drive technology. Under the terms of the acquisition, YASA will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, developing ultra high-performance e-motors, while retaining its own brand, team, facilities and continuing to supply existing automotive supercar customers. YASA’s axial-flux electric motor... Read more →

GKN Automotive is accelerating its development of next generation eDrive technologies in response to the rapidly increasing global demand for electrified vehicles. These future systems, utilizing 800V technologies, are already at advanced stages of development and being tested in real-world conditions. GKN Automotive says it is now working with the... Read more →

Exro Technologies is introducing a new application for its patented Coil Driver technology—enabling EVs to fast charge seamlessly and provide electricity back to the grid regardless of power source or charger type. Coil Driver is a next-generation dynamic motor controller that expands the capabilities of electric motors by enabling multiple... Read more →

Enedym, a switched reluctance motor (SRM) spinout from McMaster University, closed a $15-million financing round from an international group of strategic investors within the US, Canada, Europe, and India, including P&A Paletta Giving Inc., TRIO Capital Group Inc., Napino Group, KWG Capital Inc., Pathfinder Asset Management Limited, and others. The... Read more →

Rolls-Royce’s all-electric aircraft the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ (earlier post) will take to the skies for the first time in the coming weeks as it works towards a world-record attempt with a target speed of 300+ mph (480+ km/h). The current speed record for an all-electric plane—set by Siemens in 2017—is... Read more →

Autonomous vehicle company Local Motors and in-wheel motor company Protean Electric expanded their long-standing partnership, inking a further three-year deal valued at $7.3 million. Under this new order, Protean Electric will deliver thousands of its ProteanDrive in-wheel motors (IWMs) to power Local Motors’ Olli 2.0 electric autonomous shuttles, accelerating their... Read more →

Smart power electronics company Exro Technologies and Linamar, a tier one supplier, have agreed to develop develop an advanced eAxle for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles utilizing Exro’s Coil Driver technology to improve cost and performance of Linamar’s eAxle product line. (Earlier post.) Coil Driver is a next-generation controller that expands... Read more →

BorgWarner’s integrated drive module (iDM) was selected by the Hyundai Motor Group for its power electric system, which will be used in the upcoming A-segment electric vehicle production, planned to start in mid of 2023. We have enjoyed nearly two decades of partnership with the Hyundai Motor Group and couldn't... Read more →

Drive System Design (DSD), a company specializing in the rapid engineering and development of electrified propulsion systems and associated technologies, has made significant enhancements to the latest generation of its proprietary Electrified Powertrain Optimization Process (ePOP). This advanced software-based tool combines DSD’s extensive expertise as well as its unique processes... Read more →

As part of its mission to make world-class electric drives accessible, Integral e-Drive has made available a family of three ultra-high-performance machines off-the-shelf in single sample quantities. Leveraging Integral Powertrain’s ‘Core Technology’ the CTSM242 series uses a combination of advanced electromagnetic design and a high-performance thermal management system cooling both... Read more →

Production of fifth-generation high-voltage batteries and battery modules for use in the BMW iX and BMW i4 is now underway at the BMW’s Competence Center for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing. At the same time, the company is also increasing production capacity for its fifth-generation electric motor, which has been built... Read more →

Hyzon Motors, a leading global supplier of hydrogen fuel cell powered commercial vehicles, has developed a new eAxle design which provides extremely high efficiency for 6x4 Class-8 commercial vehicles. Hyzon’s eAxle eliminates right-angle hypoid gears, and uses one motor per wheel with optimized performances both at low speed and high... Read more →

Infinitum Electric, developer of the printed circuit board (PCB) motor (earlier post), raised $40 million in Series C funding to scale production of its ultra-high-efficiency, lightweight motors. The investment will be used to expand production of the company’s IEs Series motors for commercial and industrial applications and complete development of... Read more →

SAKOR Technologies Inc., a leading provider of high-performance dynamometer systems, has developed a series of dynamometer systems for customers required to test and verify the level of efficiency of electric motors in accordance with a variety of national and international standards, including IEC 60034-2-1; IEEE 112B; and Canadian standard C390-93.... Read more →

South Korea’s POSCO, one of the world’s top steel producers, is carrying forward a transition of its business structure to focus on “Green & Mobility”, based on various automotive capabilities in the group. In the transition phase of the megatrend represented by low-carbon and eco-friendly environment, POSCO group should go... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $19 million for 13 projects in traditionally fossil-fuel-producing communities across the country to support production of rare earth elements and critical minerals essential to the manufacturing of batteries, magnets, and other components important to the clean energy economy. Facing persistent shortages in domestic... Read more →

UK-based Pensana plans to build, subject to funding, a US$125-million sustainable rare earth separation facility at the Saltend Chemicals Park (“SCP”) in Humber, UK. Targeted production is around 12,500 annualized tonnes of rare earth oxides, including 4,500 tonnes of magnet metal rare earth oxides (NdPr), which would represent approximately 5%... Read more →

Tula Technology, Inc., the developer of Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) and diesel DSF cylinder deactivation technology for combustion engines, reported at the International Vienna Motor Symposium that its product Dynamic Motor Drive (DMD) (earlier post) mitigates efficiency losses of electric motors while significantly reducing reliance on rare-earth materials. DMD’s application... Read more →

Allison Transmission and Emergency One (UK) Ltd, the market leader in the United Kingdom in the manufacture, service and support of fire and rescue vehicles, announced a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The two companies will integrate the Allison eGen Power 100D electric axle into Emergency One’s fire rescue and... Read more →

UK-based Aeristech, a developer of high-speed electric motor and controller technology (earlier post), closed a £5.15-million (US$7-million) private funding round led by investors Sabien Technology, Vela Technologies and SAIC Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of China-based automaker SAIC Motor. The funding round will supercharge the company’s investment in its... Read more →

Yamaha Motor has developed an electric motor reaching the industry’s highest class in output density. This unit is aimed at use in hyper-EV models and other offerings in the high-output mobility segment; Yamaha is accepting orders for commissioned prototype development from April this year. Since 2020, Yamaha Motor has been... Read more →

To support the future of green automotive manufacturing and accelerate the UK’s transition to net-zero emission vehicles, the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) has guided £9.4 million (US$13 million) in public funding to 22 feasibility studies looking to scale up the industrialization of low-carbon emission vehicle technologies. In the second round... Read more →

Linamar Corporation has entered the evaluation phase for the first Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Delivery Vans in their technology contract with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). CTE is managing the Next Generation Fuel Cell Delivery Van Deployment Project for the California Air Resources Board (CARB), awarded to... Read more →

The e-Drive division of Integral Powertrain Limited (IP), manufacturer of electric motors and inverters, has entered a Technical Partnership with the NIO 333 Formula E Team. Having been involved with the motorsport sector, in particular, electrified motorsport for the past decade, IP is well-positioned to deliver and to support the... Read more →

Mercedes-AMG laid out its new electrified drive strategy, which is based on two pillars: Performance hybrids with a completely independent drive concept under the technology label E PERFORMANCE. Battery-electric AMG derivatives based on the new Mercedes Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA) for luxury and premium-class vehicles. Extensive modifications to the drive,... Read more →

Schaeffler has secured a volume production order to supply electric motors to a key manufacturer in the commercial vehicle sector, starting in 2023. The 800 V motor, used in pairs in battery-powered vehicles, delivers a maximum continuous output of 180 kW and generates a maximum torque of 950 N·m. It... Read more →

With the conclusion of Phase 2 of the project, the Triumph TE-1 partners—Triumph Motorcycles, Williams Advanced Engineering, Integral Powertrain Ltd, and WMG at the University of Warwic—have revealed the battery, powertrain, and design sketches for the electric motorcycle concept. The project is funded by the UK Government’s Office for Zero... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $30 million to support scientific research that will ensure US businesses can reliably tap into a domestic supply of critical elements and minerals—specifically rare earth elements (REE) and platinum group elements (PGE)—needed to produce clean energy technologies. (DE-FOA-0002483) Currently, the... Read more →

Israel-based REE Automotive (REE) revealed 5 new and improved REEcorner architecture designs and the technology behind its EV platforms designed to support a broad range of commercial electric vehicles. REE intends to provide a comprehensive range of technical configurations to fulfill specific B2B customer needs, including EV platform size selection... Read more →

Geologists and materials scientists at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have discovered a new way of finding new and previously unknown deposits of rare earth metals, worldwide. They have published the findings of their study in the journal Geology. The researchers discovered that fayalite crystals (pictured) can contain large amounts of... Read more →

Magna is introducing a scalable solution enabling automakers to electrify their pickup trucks and light commercial vehicles without sacrificing utility and functionality. eBeam is a drop-in replacement for traditional beam axles, using existing suspension and chassis architectures. It integrates with a battery electric or hybrid powertrain system and offers a... Read more →

Draper (officially, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, a US-based not-for-profit R&D organization based in Cambridge, Mass.) is developing a new family of electric motors and generators based on electrostatic, rather than electromagnetic principles. Underpinning the initiative is a recent patent on aspects of the technology. Almost all electric motors today... Read more →

High-voltage batteries, electronics, and other vehicle components are exposed to a variety of punishing environmental influences during their life cycle. FEV, a leading global service provider in vehicle and powertrain development for hardware and software, supports manufacturers and suppliers with a comprehensive test facility capable of accounting for virtually all... Read more →

Rolls-Royce’s technology will power Vertical Aerospace’s flagship Urban Air Mobility (UAM) aircraft. A Rolls-Royce electrical power system will be integrated into the VA-X4 piloted all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, which will carry up to four passengers and the pilot for 120 miles at cruise speeds of more than... Read more →

Swiss industry leading EV powertrain and power electronics development specialist BRUSA Elektronik AG, and Austrian EV motorsport frontrunner STARD have taken take their close cooperation to the next level by signing an agreement to co-develop and market current and next-generation high-performance e-motors, inverters, DC-DC converters, and development services for motorsport... Read more →

Neo Performance Materials and Energy Fuels Inc. are launching a new rare earth production initiative spanning European and North American critical material supply chains. The initiative will produce value-added rare earth products from natural monazite sands, a byproduct of heavy mineral sands mined in the southeastern United States. Energy Fuels... Read more →

China has increased its production quota for rare-earth metals by close to 30% for the first half of this year, according to a report by the Nikkei. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Natural Resources jointly announced that the production quota for the first half of... Read more →

The University of Birmingham is working with Bentley Motors and others on a three-year research project to deliver a sustainable source of rare earth magnets for electric and hybrid vehicles. The £2.6-million (US$3.6-million) RaRE (Rare-earth Recycling for E-machines) project is funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and... Read more →

Australian rare earths exploration and development company RareX Limited entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the leading global rare earths producer, China-based Shenghe Resources Holdings. Shenghe, listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, has a market capitalization of approximately US$4.6 billion. It is a leading producer of rare... Read more →

Nidec Corporation’s Board of Directors approved a resolution to acquire the shares of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool Co., Ltd. , a company that designs, manufactures, and sells machine tools, cutting tools, and related products. The acquisition of the machine tool business complements Nidec’s existing businesses and strategy. Nidec has... Read more →

In its new report Rare Earths, Outlook to 2030, Roskill forecasts that rare earth magnet applications will account for ~40% of total demand by 2030, raising the potential for a tight supply-demand balance for key magnetic rare earth elements, as well as providing the opportunity for new production capacity to... Read more →

Dana Incorporated has introduced an expanded family of Dana TM4 SUMO HP electric motors and inverters, including the HV1000 and HV2500. The TM4 SUMO family is specifically designed for battery-electric, range-extended, and fuel-cell vehicles. These high-performance motors and inverters are engineered to offer maximum flexibility, enabling direct-drive, series-hybrid, or parallel-hybrid... Read more →

ArcelorMittal is investing €13 million in its Saint Chély d’Apcher plant in France, which specializes in iCARe electrical steels for the automotive sector. The investment means the plant will be able to produce cutting-edge non grain-oriented (NO) iCARe electrical steel grades, through production upgrades and new production capabilities, to meet... Read more →

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have shed new light on the formation mechanisms of a rare earth-bearing mineral that is in increasingly high demand across the globe for its use in the green energy and tech industries. Their discovery has important economic implications because there are no substitute alternatives to... Read more →

Toshiba Corporation has developed a new magnetic material with characteristics that deliver major improvements in motor efficiency at minimum cost, and with the potential to win significant reductions in power consumption. The company says the material is suitable for train drive systems, automobiles, robots and other applications requiring high reliability.... Read more →

LG Electronics and Magna International announced a joint venture (JV) to manufacture e-motors, inverters and on board chargers and, for certain automakers, related e-drive systems to support the growing global shift toward vehicle electrification. The new company, tentatively called LG Magna e-Powertrain, combines Magna’s strength in electric powertrain systems and... Read more →

Aeristech, a developer of electric motor technology, is expanding into aerospace. Aeristech’s aerospace facility will enable the company to begin offering its expertise in market-leading power-dense electric motors and motor controllers to the aerospace sector, including for hydrogen fuel-cell compressors, which will make it possible to reduce aviation emissions. Aeristech’s... Read more →

Porsche has produced its first complete housing for an electric drive using 3D printing. The engine-gearbox unit produced using the additive laser fusion process passed all the quality and stress tests without any problems. This proves that additive manufacturing with all its advantages is also suitable for larger and highly-stressed... Read more →

Rio Tinto unveiled a pathway for the ongoing development of the underground project at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world (earlier post). The definitive estimate details how Oyu Tolgoi underground will achieve sustainable production for Panel 0 by October 2022... Read more →

Tula Technology, Inc., a tech leader in improving propulsion efficiency and reducing emissions in passenger cars and commercial vehicles, announced that the one-millionth vehicle utilizing its award-winning Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) technology (earlier post) was produced in November 2020. Unlike cylinder deactivation strategies that shut off a fixed number of... Read more →