MAHLE, an international automotive supplier and development partner, based out of Stuttgart, Germany has developed a new type of Electric Motor that is magnet-free and does not require any rare earth elements. The company has combined the strengths of various electric motor concepts in one product to make it easily sustainable and scalable. The permanent magnet is replaced with an excitation coil in the rotor which not only makes the production more environmentally compatible but also increases the efficiency and reduces cost.
Today the electric drives in the automotive sector mainly rely on synchronous motors which are built using high-performance permanent magnets. These permanent magnets are expensive and depend on the rare earth elements for availability. To overcome this problem, MAHLE has developed this new type of motor that can be built and scaled without the influence of rare earth materials. Apart from this, the motor also has high efficiency of 95% across almost all operating points which has been previously achieved only by Formula E racing cars. The motor also claims to have high durability because of the contactless transmission of electrical currents between the rotating and stationary parts inside the motor.
The motors can be used in a wide range of applications from small vehicle subsystems to traction drive-in commercial vehicles. You can also check out the explainer video to know more about the working of the motor.
