A new motor for electric vans will ditch 12 kilograms of rare-earth magnets per machine, replacing them with aluminium windings and composite rotors. This matters because electric vehicle motors currently rely on magnets made from materials like neodymium and dysprosium—metals mined in a handful of countries under environmentally damaging conditions. The UK supply chain for these magnets is fragile, and prices are volatile. Ricardo and its partners have spent a decade developing a magnet-free synchronous-reluctance motor that matches the performance of conventional designs. This project takes that technology from a lab prototype to a pre-production motor ready for light commercial vehicles. The team will design the motor for manufacturing, build and test first-iteration motors, and create a digital twin that simulates how production variations affect performance. A life-cycle analysis will track environmental impact from raw materials to scrap. A separate business study will map out assembly plants needed for 5,000 or 100,000 units per year. If successful, the project could make electric vans cheaper, more sustainable, and less dependent on geopolitically sensitive supply chains—without sacrificing performance.
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Ricardo has spent ten years developing magnet free, sustainable, synchronous-reluctance, traction motor technology, which retains the attributes of magnet-rich motors. As part of this, Ricardo is completing the DER "UK-Alumotor 1" supply chain development project, which has delivered manufacturing learning for aluminium windings, low wastage stator manufacture, and composites in rotors with additive manufactured flux guides. This has been delivered in conjunction with our partners: Aspire; Brandauer; GTR; PSI; WMG and the DER Winding Centre of Excellence. This project takes the learning and concepts from the above to significantly increase a light commercial vehicle (LCV) concept motor's Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL). We will deliver a "design for manufacturing" (DFM) project of a pre-production, highly sustainable motor removing 12kg of rare-earth magnets per machine. We will develop the manufacturing processes in the supply chain, a digital-twin of the motor including manufacturing influences, a cradle to grave Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), and a business case with target pricing versus volume data output. The first project phase will develop DFM solutions, procure, assemble and then test first iteration motors, which will be used to validate the digital-twin simulation model. The first iteration motor stator will be manufactured by the DER funded Winding Centre of Excellence at WMG jointly with Aspire using lamination stacks provided by Brandauer. A second, virtual DFM phase will optimise the manufacturing processes through feedback from the LCA, performance and durability test results. This optimisation will be assessed via the digital-twin toolchain, including virtual validation. A parallel task will progress the DFM and manufacturing processes for a higher performance rotor that includes novel composites from the UK-Alumotor 1 project. This will widen the attractiveness of the motor to higher performance Defence and passenger car applications. The route to market will be identified by a business study of potential customers and markets, and a review of the assembly plants required for 5,000 or 100,000 units/year. This will inform investment decisions for Ricardo and partners for low and high-volume manufacturing. Additional commercialisation will come from deploying the learning by Ricardo and partners in client motor design and development projects. This will increase the partners' competitiveness in the UK and deliver further value from the Innovate UK DER funding.
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