Advances in electric motors: a review and benchmarking of product design and manufacturing technologies

Abstract

Electric drive units are key components of the drivetrain of electric vehicles. In recent years, the product topology of the motor and the respective components as well as the underlying manufacturing technology have changed fundamentally against the background of different design objectives of the manufacturers and are also subject to a high degree of variance. To identify significant development trends in this dynamic sector and to contribute to further optimization of electric drives, traction drives of electric vehicles from the recent years are analyzed and compared regarding their characteristics. To achieve this goal, a systematic analysis and categorization of 31 electric vehicles from 2018 to 2023 and 48 electric traction motors installed in them is carried out. The investigation is conducted using a top-down analysis, starting with a macroscopic view of the motor down to microscopic analysis of individual components at stator and rotor level. Macroscopic analysis considers the overall structure of the electric motor and power electronics, while microscopic analysis takes a detailed look at the product design and the production technology used.