THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE ELECTRIFIED POWERTRAIN Read all back issues and exclusive online-only content at www.emobility-engineering.com ISSUE 026 | JULY/AUGUST 2024 UK £15 USA $30 EUROPE €22 Reinventing the 3 Wheeler Driving Morgan’s electric future High voltage Masters of motors Leading the charge for heavy-duty apps Engineering the perfect machine
3 out of 4 of the World's Major Vehicle Manufacturers use Castrol ON EV Fluids*. Now, we're driving into the future with the next generation of trucks. *Based on GlobalData report for top 20 selling OEMs (total new passenger car and light commercial vehicle sales) in 2023. Used by these OEMs as a part of EV factory fill. Next GeneratiON Trucks: Leading the Transition
64 Focus: Motor development and manufacturing From concept to design to prototype development, the creation of a new motor is a complicated, multi-stage endeavour 74 PS: Hybrid energy storage systems How do you create something that is truly greater than the sum of its parts? Take systems that combine batteries and supercapacitor banks 4 Intro What will the classics of the electric vehicle era look like? We take a peek at some of the possibilities out there 6 The Grid A robot that wires harnesses, making custom magnetics the AI way, energy-storing carbon fibres, stackable connectors, thermal alloy, a memory device that can handle 600 C, and much more… 16 In conversation: Tim Woolmer YASA Motors’ CTO explains how a complex algorithm sparked an interest in e-mobility, leading him to develop axial-flux motors 20 Dossier: Fellten Morgan XP-1 The Morgan Motor Company, known for its iconic 3 Wheeler, is meeting the electrification challenge with the aid of Fellten 32 Focus: Battery tech for heavy-duty apps Flexibility is a key requirement for big EVs, so battery packs of various chemistries are needed for a wide range of uses 42 Insight: Battery production technology The complex systems ensuring lithium ion batteries meet their performance and safety goals 50 EVD: Soteria e-bike project A consortium is compiling a standard set of design features the industry can adopt to lower the risk of e-bikes catching fire 56 Deep insight: Hydrogen fuel cells Designed as modular assemblies, the latest systems aim to bring cheaper, clean energy to shipping and aircraft 16 20 32 50 56 3 E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 July/August 2024 | Contents
THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE ELECTRIFIED POWERTRAIN Read all back issues and exclusive online-only content at www.emobility-engineering.com ISSUE 026 | JULY/AUGUST 2024 UK £15 USA $30 EUROPE €22 Reinventing the 3 Wheeler Driving Morgan’s electric future High voltage Masters of motors Leading the charge for heavy-duty apps Engineering the perfect machine Creating a classic Publisher Nick Ancell Editorial Director Ian Bamsey Technology Editor Nick Flaherty Production Editor Vickie Johnstone Contributors Peter Donaldson Rory Jackson Technical Consultants Ryan Maughan Danson Joseph Dr Nabeel Shirazee Design Andrew Metcalfe Ad Sales Please direct all enquiries to Nick Ancell nick@highpowermedia.com Tel: +44 1934 713957 Subscriptions Please direct all enquiries to Frankie Robins frankie@highpowermedia.com Tel: +44 1934 713957 Publishing Director Simon Moss Marketing & PR Manager Claire Ancell General Manager Chris Perry Office Administrator Lisa Selley Volume Six | Issue Four July/August 2024 High Power Media Limited Whitfield House, Cheddar Road, Wedmore, Somerset, BS28 4EJ, England Tel: +44 1934 713957 www.highpowermedia.com ISSN 2631-4193 Printed in Great Britain ©High Power Media All rights reserved. Reproduction (in whole or in part) of any article or illustration without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. While care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information herein, the publisher can accept no liability for errors or omissions. Nor can responsibility be accepted for the content of any advertisement. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available from High Power Media at the address above or directly from our website www.highpowermedia.com. Overseas copies are sent via air mail. EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES Do you have a strong technical knowledge of one or more aspects of e-mobility systems? As we grow we are on the lookout for experts who can contribute to these pages. If that sounds an interesting challenge then don’t hesitate to explore the possibility of writing for us by emailing ian@highpowermedia.com ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES If you are looking to promote your company to engineers active in the electrification of vehicles, we have various advertising packages available to suit your needs. With a maximum of 25% of the publication allocated to advertising we offer a unique opportunity to become one of E-Mobility Engineering’s exclusive advertising partners, ensuring you are not lost in a crowded market. To discuss the opportunities and how we can work with you to promote your company please contact Nick Ancell nick@highpowermedia.com +44 1934 713957 THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE ELECTRIFIED POWERTRAIN SUBSCRIBE TODAY visit www.highpowermedia.com ALSO FROM HPM The Morgan three-wheeler is a classic of automotive design. What will be the classics of the electric vehicle (EV) era? In this issue, we look at how the Morgan has been electrified, and what this means for the future direction of the industry. With the motors key for giving designers the flexibility to innovate, we look at the latest developments, and also talk to YASA on its in-wheel motor technology. Heavy-duty vehicles can also be classics, from trucks and excavators to electric aircraft. We examine the requirements of battery systems and hydrogen. And then there’s the potential classic design of the Soteria e-bike. But classics need to be manufactured, so the latest battery production technologies are vital to ensure future classic EVs will be around for many years to come. Nick Flaherty Technology Editor EME Update Each month the E-Mobility Engineering e-newsletter provides a snapshot of the top stories on our website during the previous month. To keep up to date with the latest technological developments, sign up today at www.emobility-engineering.com/e-newsletter 4 July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Intro | July/August 2024 Read all back issues online www.ust-media.com UST 56 : JUNE/JULY 2024 UK £15, USA $30, EUROPE €22 Big bytes Secure centralised computing engines Golden receivers Antennas for comms and mission success Dynamic duo How Insitu’s ScanEagle and Integrator are staying on top in the age of VTOL ELECTRIC, HYBRID & INTERNAL COMBUSTION for PERFORMANCE ISSUE 153 JUNE/JULY 2024 Harnessing CI power Focus on diesel components 206 mph eco motorcycle True Cousins’ drag bike Revival of the racecar V4 Ligier Storm V4 by SuperHP www.highpowermedia.com UK £15, US/CN $25, EUROPE €22
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6 The Grid Robot makes light work of wiring harnesses The first version of Q5D’s robot for automating the assembly of wiring harnesses for electric vehicles (EVs) is being shipped, writes Nick Flaherty. Q5D is using its CY1000 system to assemble the wiring harness in the roof lining of a prototype SUV being tested in the UK. “We have proven we can do it more cheaply, and we are doing a small production run for them with all the terminations proof of concept. Then we go to a contract manufacturer and provide the machine to them,” says Steve Bennington, CEO of Q5D. “Now they are looking at other parts of the vehicles, such as doors, bumpers and seats. No two wiring looms are exactly the same and this causes problems in every aspect of the car. This is an opportunity to have wiring looms that are identical, and can be easily changed and introduced.” The company is negotiating pilot lines for automotive manufacturers. The pilot machines have shown a 30-50% reduction in the cost of the wiring for a vehicle. For a large EV, this can be a saving of hundreds of dollars per car. This comes from reducing the labour expense by 80-90% and cutting shipping costs. It costs more to ship a wiring harness from Egypt, where it is made, to Spain, where it is installed in the vehicle, than it does to make it, says Bennington. With the Q5D robot, the assembly can be co-located with the installation line. There is another less obvious saving on inventory for the assembly of aftermarket spare parts. “With our system, you can make to order with lean manufacturing. This can change the design process; for example, designing for fewer connectors and different designs for battery packs,” he says. “With our machines integrating wiring into the component parts and assemblies, the final product can be assembled by machine as well.” One area of development is the battery management system, where Q5D has used its robot to wire up a case, so the battery cells become functional once they are installed in it by a conventional, industrial robot. The whole case can then be installed in the vehicle robotically and become functional. Q5D developed a bill-of-materials and takt time calculations for product assembly, showing this approach can make the battery management system for a total cost equivalent to that of the cheapest imported solution without compromising on quality. Manufacturers can gain cost savings and productivity gains because assembly onto the chassis can be automated. The system uses a custom control system, based on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and a Raspberry Pi single-board computer. “First, we looked at off-the-shelf, single-board computers designed for industrial applications,” says Chris Elsworthy, chief technology officer at Q5D. “Many were very mature, but we wanted to connect things that were outside their ecosystem. We found we would only use 10% of the functionality of these computers and that 10% wasn’t a perfect fit for what we wanted. “This led us to design our board in its entirety. We are using an FPGA for fast processing, and originally put a microcontroller next to it, but it turned out to be difficult from an architecture perspective. In the end, we broke the electronics into two parts. “We have a high-speed FPGA board, which is entirely our design and construction, and we added a Raspberry Pi to do all the upfront processing. The Raspberry Pi does some maths, chucks the work together and inserts that into the FPGA. The FPGA then does all the real-time maths,” he said. ROBOTS July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Q5D is shipping its first robot for automating the assembly of wiring harnesses
The Grid 7 Global production for custom magnetics using AI algorithms Frenetic Electronics has launched a global production service for its custom magnetics designs, writes Nick Flaherty. Frenetic Factory produces inductors, transformers and EMI filters, based on a free web design and analysis tool called Core Optimizer. This uses AI-based algorithms trained by the engineers at Frenetic. “Current methods for designing and manufacturing these components are overly manual, lengthy and iterative. We are using algorithms for ferrite materials and litz wires, and for frequencies from 10 kHz, 15 kHz, to 1.5 MHz, up to 8 E100 stacks to 100 kW,” says Chema Molina, founder and CEO of Frenetic. “Engineers can choose an inductor, ask for specifications and dimensions, and the algorithm generates a solution or sends it to our engineers for a custom solution – then you can get a quotation.” One key area is EV charging stations, where the inductors can be very heavy and have a good margin in production batches. “For EV chargers, surprisingly, we are in production for flyback converters and inductors,” Molina says. The frequency switching is key to reducing the size and weight of the magnetics in a power conversion design, and this is currently limited by the use of ferrites in the tool algorithm. “If you want to do 2 MHz, the system will work, but the limitation is the ferrite conditions in the L1 algorithm. The algorithms are being updated, and the L2 algorithm in August will cover ferrite and powder, with L3 covering amorphous materials,” Molina explains. The web-based Core Optimizer tool allows users to compare millions of different magnetics possibilities within seconds, while maintaining the highest level of accuracy. BOMs, 3D models and engineering drawings are automatically generated. Now, users can take that design, and have samples and full production quantities made at Frenetic Factory. “We have a lab factory in Madrid for everything below 5000 units and we have partners for 10,000 units. We focus on customers that are producing less than 20,000 units a year,” says Molina. The company has deals with plants in the USA, Mexico, Europe, India and China, and a production capacity of 8.75 million units annually, which can be scaled to even higher volumes. Frenetic Factory is fully responsible for the technical support and quality of the components it supplies, no matter which facility they were produced in for MILSTD-461E, MIL-STD-981, ESCC 3201 and AEC-Q200 qualification. Available core types include ferrite, powder, amorphous, electrical steel and nanocrystalline; shapes include round, litz, foil, planar and Cu-stamped. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 AI algorithms can automatically produce the magnetic components for charging systems (Image courtesy of Frenetic)
The Grid Carbon-fibre material can store electrical energy Coated carbon fibres are used as the current collector at the anode, with a glass-fibre separator isolating them from the uncoated fibres used for the cathode. The electrolyte runs between the fibres, and the current is collected by an aluminium foil at the anode and a copper foil at the cathode. Choice of coating is key to the battery’s energy density, including materials to generate the lithium ions. The carbon fibre can be optimised to provide a similar function to the graphite carbon used in existing battery cells. For passenger aircraft to be powered by electricity, they need to be much lighter than they are today. Weight reduction is also vital for road vehicles, extending driving range per charge. “Storing electrical energy in carbon fibre may perhaps not become as efficient as traditional batteries, but since our carbon fibre also has a structural load-bearing capability, very large gains can be made at a system level,” says CEO Markus Zetterström. A study from Chalmers shows carbon fibre-based structural batteries could increase the driving range for lightweight EVs by 70%. BATTERIES 8 SOFTWARE Powering two- to three-wheelers in Asia FRIWO has developed a motor control unit and software specifically for two- and three-wheel vehicles in Asia, writes Nick Flaherty. The MC1.5-55A-48V unit has a continuous power output of 1.5 kW for light EVs using permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), making it ideal for electric scooters, motorcycles and other vehicles, particularly in India, Vietnam and Indonesia, and generally in Southeast Asia. The unit takes a supply voltage of 30-72 V, making it flexible for a wide range of battery pack designs, and it produces a motor current of 100 A RMS. This is capable of handling demanding tasks such as hill starts. Two analogue inputs allow the integration of sensors such as accelerator handles or brakes, and the software allows control and configuration of nine digital inputs. Communication is via the CAN protocol for integration with existing systems and networks. The unit is sealed to the IP65 rating for the harsh environments regarding temperature and humidity that e-scooters and light three-wheel vans encounter in Southeast Asia. The flexible, specially developed firmware of the MC1.5-55A-48V can be configured by the FRIWO Enable Tool. This measurement and calibration software sets the parameters of the motor and battery management system, enabling developers to update the firmware of the control unit. It also allows the parameter memory to be read out quickly to speed up integration and commissioning. The Enable Tool can adjust a wide range of parameters per control unit, allowing the subjective driving experience to be tailored to the customer’s requirements. The software also creates securely signed data sets for production and after-sales applications. This provides security and integrity by managing different user roles, such as developer, production and service, enabling efficient control of vehicle projects, even in larger organisations with a network of partners. A spinout from Chalmers University, Sweden, has developed a carbonfibre material that stores electrical energy and forms part of an EV’s structure, writes Nick Flaherty. Sinonus is commercialising a conformal battery using the material that doubles as electrodes. It has demonstrated the potential of its technology by replacing AAA batteries in low-power products in its lab. It is expanding to EVs and aircraft. It uses the conductivity of the carbon fibre developed by Oxeon, another Chalmers Venture company, which was used in the propeller blades for NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. It was chosen by the engineering team for its ultralight weight and thinness. July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Sinonus’ composite battery cell FRIWO’s unit has a power output of 1.5 kW
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10 BATTERIES Korean aluminium alloy boosts thermal stability Researchers in Korea have developed an aluminium alloy for EVs that dramatically improves thermal stability, writes Nick Flaherty. The team at the Korea Institute of Material Science (KIMS) identified a new mechanism by which the nanostructures inside aluminium alloys work, and the alloys they have developed improve thermal stability by up to 140%, compared with existing aluminium ones. Aluminium enclosure materials deteriorate due to the heat emitted by batteries, leading to a significantly increased risk of accident as EVs age. Dr. Hyeon-woo Son and his team from the Department of Aluminium in the Advanced Metals Division at KIMS added trace elements to the existing 6000 series aluminium alloy. They set up a new database by introducing dozens of trace elements and analysing nanostructures using state-of-the-art techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and 3D atom-probe tomography (APT). They confirmed that several elements can improve thermal stability. The team assessed the thermal performance of the AA6061 alloy with trace amounts of silver and germanium using hardness measurements, electrical conductivity tests, TEM and APT. Trace addition of Ge can increase electrical conductivity and thermal stability, but it also slightly deteriorates hardness during the early and peak ageing stages. Trace addition of Ag can enhance hardness during ageing, especially in the overageing stage, but it deteriorates electrical conductivity. As the ageing time was increased, the Ge atoms were incorporated into the precipitates in the alloy, resulting in better thermal stability. The research is significant in that it expands the database of thermal stability enhancement techniques and introduces new directions for alloy design. Stackable connectors that simply snap in place ENNOVI has developed a stackable, multi-row, boardto-board (BTB) automotive connector that snaps together without soldering, writes Nick Flaherty The ENNOVI-MB2B system uses a proprietary ‘snap-in biscuit’ design, which allows multiple connector units to be stacked together without soldering, and it is reliable enough to use in EVs. The design enables different pin count requirements to be accommodated via the same basic interconnect without any extra expense or engineering effort. The BTB connectors are based on ENNOVI’s patented, 0.4 mm miniPLX press-fit terminals, which are made from a copper alloy that exhibits low levels of contact resistance at under 1 mΩ. These have an insertion force of under 70 N and a ‘push-out’ force of over 15 N. Each pin has a 3 A current carrying capability and can be covered with ENNOVI’s IndiCoat plating technology to mitigate the build-up of tin whiskers, which can cause short circuits. The coating extends operational lifespan. ENNOVI-MB2B connectors come in board-stacking heights of 7-30 mm for Electric Power Steering (EPS) and Electronic Control Unit (ECU) functions in EVs. The connectors can have one to six rows, with up to 30 contact terminals being incorporated into each one. Conforming with automotive performance requirements, these rugged products can withstand high humidity levels (eight-hour cycling up to 10% RH), mechanical shock (35 g for 5-10 ms across 10 axes) and vibration (eight hours per axis). A working temperature range of -40 C to 150 C is supported. “Being able to fit enough interconnect terminal pins into a small space while not having any excess is a priority for clients [and] keeping total cost of ownership down is vital,” says Ralph Semmeling, product portfolio director at ENNOVI. CONNECTORS July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering KIMS thermal materials ENNOVI’s connector doesn’t need soldering
The Grid 11 Memory device functions at 600 C Researchers in the USA have developed a heat-resistant, non-volatile memory device able to withstand temperatures of over 600 C, writes Nick Flaherty. The ferroelectric aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) device can be used in electric aircraft and motors to add machine-learning controls and sensors in harsh environments. Deep Jariwala and Roy Olsson of the University of Pennsylvania, and their teams at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, demonstrated that the memory technology is capable of enduring temperatures up to 600 C – more than twice the tolerance of any commercial drives on the market – and these characteristics were maintained for more than 60 hours. “Our high-temperature memory devices could lead to advanced computing where other electronics and memory devices would falter,” says Jariwala. “This isn’t just about improving devices – it’s about enabling new frontiers in science and technology.” “AlScN’s crystal structure gives it notably more stable and strong bonds between atoms, meaning it’s not just heat-resistant but also pretty durable,” says researcher Dhiren Pradhan. “But, more notably, our memory device design and properties allow for fast switching between electrical states, which is crucial for writing and reading data at high speed.” The memory device consists of a metal-insulator-metal structure, incorporating nickel and platinum electrodes with a 45 nm layer of AlScN. This thickness is a key consideration as particles move more erratically at elevated temperatures. “If it is too thin, the increased activity can drive diffusion and degrade a material. If too thick, there goes the ferroelectric switching we were looking for, since the switching voltage scales with thickness and there is a limitation to that in practical operating environments. So, my lab and Roy Olsson’s lab worked together for months to find this Goldilocks thickness,” says Jariwala. The devices were grown on 4 in diameter silicon wafers, and exhibit clear ferroelectric switching up to 600C with distinct on/off states. At 600C, the devices exhibit one million read cycles and readable on/off ratios for over 60h. The operating voltages of the AlScN ferrodiodes are less than 15V at 600C, making them compatible with hightemperature, silicon-carbide devices, which are also used in inverters. “Conventional devices using small, silicon transistors have a tough time working in high-temperature environments – a limitation that restricts silicon processors – so, instead, silicon carbide is used,” says Jariwala. “While silicon-carbide technology is great, it is nowhere close to the processing power of silicon processors, so advanced processing and data-heavy computing such as AI can’t really be done in high temperatures or any harsh environments. “The stability of our memory device could allow integration of memory and processing more closely together, enhancing speed, complexity and efficiency of computing. We call this ‘memory-enhanced compute’ and are working with other teams to set the stage for AI in new environments,” he adds. ELECTRONICS E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 The memory technology is capable of enduring temperatures up to 600 C
Technical consultants Ryan Maughan is an award-winning engineer and business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in the High-Performance, Heavy-Duty and Off-Highway Automotive markets. Prominent in the development of Power Electronics, Electric Motors and Drives (PEMD) for these demanding applications, he has successfully founded, scaled and exited three businesses in the electric vehicle space. He is currently CEO of eTech49 Limited, an advisory business specialising in disruptive hardware technology in PEMD. In addition, he is Chairman of EV North, an industry group representing the booming EV industry in the north of England, a board member of the North East LEP and an adviser to a number of corporations. Danson Joseph has had a varied career in the electrical power industry, having worked in areas ranging from systems engineering of photovoltaic powerplants to developing the battery packs for Jaguar Land Rover’s I-Pace SUV. With a PhD in electrical machines from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, Danson has focused on developing battery systems for automotive use. After completing the I-Pace project he formed Danecca, a battery development company with a focus on prototyping and small-scale production work, as well as testing and verifying cells and packs destined for mass production. Dr Nabeel Shirazee graduated from Leicester University in 1990, where he studied electrical and electronic engineering. An MSc in magnetic engineering followed at Cardiff University, where he continued his studies, earning a PhD and developing a permanent magnetic lifting system that has been patented by the university. His interest in magnetics led to a patented magnetic levitation system that was awarded the World’s No 1 Invention prize at INPEX in the USA. In 1999, he founded Electronica, a magnetics research and design consultancy. Since then, he has been involved in various projects, including the design of an actuator motor for a British aerospace company. He has also licensed the levitation technology in France. Ryan Maughan Danson Joseph The Grid 11 Memory device functions at 600 C Researchers in the USA have developed a heat-resistant, non-volatile memory device able to withstand temperatures of over 600 C, writes Nick Flaherty. The ferroelectric aluminium scandium nitride (AlScN) device can be used in electric aircraft and motors to add machine-learning controls and sensors in harsh environments. Deep Jariwala and Roy Olsson of the University of Pennsylvania, and their teams at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, demonstrated that the memory technology is capable of enduring temperatures up to 600 C – more than twice the tolerance of any commercial drives on the market – and these characteristics were maintained for more than 60 hours. “Our high-temperature memory devices could lead to advanced computing where other electronics and memory devices would falter,” says Jariwala. “This isn’t just about improving devices – it’s about enabling new frontiers in science and technology.” “AlScN’s crystal structure gives it notably more stable and strong bonds between atoms, meaning it’s not just heat-resistant but also pretty durable,” says researcher Dhiren Pradhan. “But, more notably, our memory device design and properties allow for fast switching between electrical states, which is crucial for writing and reading data at high speed.” The memory device consists of a metal-insulator-metal structure, incorporating nickel and platinum electrodes with a 45 nm layer of AlScN. This thickness is a key consideration as particles move more erratically at elevated temperatures. “If it is too thin, the increased activity can drive diffusion and degrade a material. If too thick, there goes the ferroelectric switching we were looking for, since the switching voltage scales with thickness and there is a limitation to that in practical operating environments. So, my lab and Roy Olsson’s lab worked together for months to find this Goldilocks thickness,” says Jariwala. The devices were grown on 4 in diameter silicon wafers, and exhibit clear ferroelectric switching up to 600C with distinct on/off states. At 600C, the devices exhibit one million read cycles and readable on/off ratios for over 60h. The operating voltages of the AlScN ferrodiodes are less than 15V at 600C, making them compatible with hightemperature, silicon-carbide devices, which are also used in inverters. “Conventional devices using small, silicon transistors have a tough time working in high-temperature environments – a limitation that restricts silicon processors – so, instead, silicon carbide is used,” says Jariwala. “While silicon-carbide technology is great, it is nowhere close to the processing power of silicon processors, so advanced processing and data-heavy computing such as AI can’t really be done in high temperatures or any harsh environments. “The stability of our memory device could allow integration of memory and processing more closely together, enhancing speed, complexity and efficiency of computing. We call this ‘memory-enhanced compute’ and are working with other teams to set the stage for AI in new environments,” he adds. ELECTRONICS E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 The memory technology is capable of enduring temperatures up to 600 C 12 The Grid TRANSISTORS Testing gallium nitride power at high temperatures Researchers in the USA are finding a way to use gallium nitride (GaN) power devices at high temperatures, writes Nick Flaherty. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is investigating the impact of temperature on ohmic contacts in a gallium nitride device. The team found extreme temperatures did not cause significant degradation to the gallium nitride material or contacts, and found they were structurally intact when held at 500 C for 48 hours. Understanding how contacts perform at extreme temperatures is a key step in developing high-performance transistors. “Transistors are the heart of most modern electronics, but we didn’t want to jump straight into making a gallium nitride transistor because so much could go wrong. We first wanted to make sure the material and contacts could survive, and figure out how much they change as you increase the temperature. We will design our transistor from these basic material building blocks,” says researcher John Niroula. “No one has really studied what happens when you go all the way up to 500o.” The team added ohmic contacts to GaN devices using the two most common methods. The first involves depositing metal onto the gallium nitride and heating it to 825 C for about 30 seconds to anneal the metal. The second involves removing chunks of gallium nitride and using a hightemperature technology to regrow highly doped gallium nitride in its place. “Contacts made with both methods seemed remarkably stable,” says Niroula. July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering
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Global EV & Mobility Technology Forum Wednesday 10 – Thursday 11 July Riyadh, Saudi Arabia www.gemtechforum.com EV Summit UK 2024 Monday 15 – Tuesday 16 July Oxford, UK www.evsummit.biz 5th EV Charging Infrastructure Summit – North America Monday 15 – Wednesday 17 July Chicago, IL, USA smartgridobserver.com/EV-Summit-Chicago Adhesives & Bonding Expo Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 June Novi, USA www.adhesivesandbondingexpo.com Automechanika Kuala Lumpur Thursday 1 – Saturday 3 August Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia www.automechanika-kualalumpur.hk.messefrankfurt.com The 9th World Battery & Energy Storage Industry Expo (WBE) Thursday 8 – Saturday 10 August Guangzhou, China en.battery-expo.com Power2Drive South America Tuesday 27 – Thursday 29 August Sao Paulo, Brazil www.powertodrive-southamerica.com Cenex Expo 2024 Wednesday 4 – Thursday 5 September Millbrook, UK cenex-expo.com Automechanika Frankfurt Tuesday 10 – Saturday 14 September Frankfurt, Germany www.automechanika.messefrankfurt.com 30th ITS World Congress Monday 16 – Friday 20 September Dubai, United Arab Emirates itsworldcongress.com EV India 2024 Wednesday 18 – Friday 20 September Greater Noida, India www.evindiaexpo.in IAA Transportation 2024 Tuesday 17 – Sunday 22 September Hannover, Germany www.iaa-transportation.com MOVE America Tuesday 24 – Wednesday 25 September Austin, TX, USA www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/move-america/index.stm EV Infrastructure and Energy Summit Tuesday 1 – Wednesday 2 October London, UK evinfrastructureenergy.solarenergyevents.com The Battery Show India Thursday 3 – Saturday 5 October Greater Noida, India www.thebatteryshowindia.com The Battery Show North America Monday 7 – Thursday 10 October Detroit, MI, USA www.thebatteryshow.com hy-fcell 2024 Tuesday 8 – Wednesday 9 October Stuttgart, Germany www.messe-stuttgart.de 14 July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering
ECCE 2024 Sunday 20 – Thursday 24 October Phoenix, AZ, USA www.ieee-ecce.org/2024 IECON 2024 Sunday 3 – Wednesday 6 November Chicago, IL, USA iten.ieee-ies.org/events/2023/2024-iecon-50th-annualconference-of-the-ieee-industrial-electronics-society Future Battery Forum Tuesday 5 – Wednesday 6 November Berlin, Germany www.futurebattery.eu electronica Tuesday 12 – Friday 15 November Munich, Germany electronica.de/en AEC 2024 Wednesday 13 – Thursday 14 November Monaco aec-conference.eu Automechanika Johannesburg Tuesday 19 – Thursday 21 November Johannesburg, South Africa automechanika.za.messefrankfurt.com European EV High Voltage Summit 2024 Thursday 21 – Friday 22 November Frankfurt, Germany www.sh-acg.com London EV Show Tuesday 26 – Thursday 28 November London, UK londonevshow.com 2024 EMEA xEV Thermal Management Innovation Summit Monday 2 – Tuesday 3 December Stuttgart, Germany www.xevthermalmanagement.com The Magnetics Show Europe Tuesday 3 – Wednesday 4 December Amsterdam, Netherlands www.magnetics-eu.com Foam Expo Europe Tuesday 3 – Thursday 5 December Stuttgart, Germany www.foam-expo-europe.com Thermal Management Expo Europe Tuesday 3 – Thursday 5 December Stuttgart, Germany www.thermalmanagementexpo-europe.com Adhesives & Bonding Expo Tuesday 3 – Thursday 5 December Stuttgart, Germany www.adhesivesandbondingexpo-europe.com Automechanika Dubai Tuesday 10 – Thursday 12 December Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.automechanika-dubai.ae.messefrankfurt.com EV Asia Expo 2025 Wednesday 12 – Friday 14 February Gujarat, India www.evasia.in 2nd Annual Electric Vehicle Battery and Recycling Forum Wednesday 26 – Thursday 27 February Amsterdam, Netherlands www.leadventgrp.com Diary 15 E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024
16 July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering The CTO of YASA Motors tells Rory Jackson how his axial-flux ‘pancake’ motors originated from a complex algorithm and a simple question Going flat out Today, Tim Woolmer is the CTO of axial-flux electricmachine manufacturer (and wholly owned Mercedes-Benz subsidiary) YASA Motors, but his initial entry into the world of e-mobility was something of a happy accident. “When I was in my undergraduate years, Oxford University had this extraordinary algorithm for assigning challenging projects to fourth-year engineering students, but when it had to choose one for me, the algorithm broke; so, very unusually, I was told that I had to decide and write my own project brief,” Woolmer recounts. “I took some time to think about what I was really interested in. This was 2003, and I soon found myself asking why there weren’t any electric cars. This was after the General Motors EV-1 had been killed, and still pre-Tesla. Really, there was nothing other than small, electric city cars. But what we did have were the first mass-produced, small mobile phones, MP3 players and other consumer electronics running on Li-ion batteries.” Compared with the poor energy density of lead-acid batteries, and the minor improvements of nickelmetal-hydride, Li-ion represented a breakthrough, which indicated to Woolmer that EVs were on their way. While he was not yet focused on electric motors, he took stock of the sheer size and money potential of the automotive industry, and determined there had to be some fundamental reason why EVs had not worked yet, despite several competent companies having tried their hand at them. “I found a supervisor who was similarly interested and started a project investigating that reason. I concluded it was all about range, which it was at the time, and developed a small, wireless induction charger that worked over an air gap,” Woolmer explains. “My big dream back then was that we’d dig up all the roads in Britain, or maybe the whole world, and you’d bury these induction chargers so everyone could drive over them, and be recharging their electric cars all the time. It was a great and borderline utopian idea, if you ignore that no-one digs up critical infrastructure unless it’s an emergency – such is the idealism one has at university – but it led to my supervisor bringing me into another project.” That project was a hydrogen sportscar being developed by the Morgan Motor Axial-flux motors like this one (made for a Ferrari HEV powertrain) are manufactured by YASA Motors and based on a design by Tim Woolmer (Image courtesy of YASA)
17 Tim Woolmer | In conversation E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 they were quite loss-prone, but they improved so much that by the end of my PhD, the best powders could work about as well as standard electric steel.” One constraint on SMCs’ critical manufacturability advantage over laminations was the force it took to press them, and finding a press capable of making parts wider than 10 cm was difficult. So, Woolmer had to design his own topology of motor segments, by which a stator and rotor could be assembled from pressed SMC parts. His supervisor pointed him towards axial-flux motors, suspecting that their shape and dynamics would work better with a segmented topology than radial-flux machines. Subsequent r&d led to Woolmer’s concept for what today remains the fundamental design philosophy of YASA’s motors, which can only be made with SMCs, but met all the criteria he felt were critical to future success in EVs, including light weight, power efficiency and cost-effective mass producibility. “I stumbled upon this concept early in my PhD, so I got three years to build motors and inverters, and try them in cars. They were far from perfect, because I was, after all, just a PhD student without the massive resources of a real manufacturer, but, as stated in the final report, we achieved around 40-50 kW of continuous power from a 12 kg motor. “That meant around 3-4 kW/kg in an e-motor in 2009, compared with around 0.6 kW/kg in a Toyota Prius’ motor, so we saw there was a huge difference this technology could make in the market, and we gained some seed money from the university to optimise our prototype into something more akin to a proper product. We ended up calling that product the YASA 750, and we still sell it today, 15 years later.” Power in motion Following these early designs, YASA went on to numerous successful collaborations across motorsport and commercial automotive. One was the CX75 Concept hybrid-electric sportscar, developed by Jaguar in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering (now WAE). This concept HEV combined a relatively small, four-cylinder Cosworth engine with two electric motors: one rearward-mounted on the engine shaft for boost power and the other on the front axle. “Their motor was the best in production at the time – a 50 kg, 400 Nm, American-made machine, which worked at 7500 rpm,” says Woolmer. “That was the spec they wanted, and we came back telling them we could do something similar, but weighing 20 kg. “There were big challenges along the way, because the YASA 750 had been relatively high speed, low torque – about 2000 rpm nominal – and stresses increase with the square of speed in e-machines, but we soon demonstrated that the magnetics worked, and we could deliver the torque Jaguar wanted.” Most critically, YASA went on to iterate six versions of the Jaguar project motor over the subsequent seven to eight months, solving problems and hitting new benchmarks along the way, thereby proving its capacity for Company (the company is featured in our Dossier on p20), as part of a wider consortium that included other rising names in the EV world, such as Riversimple (see Issue 10, summer 2021), whose technical director, Hugo Spowers, had a significant influence on Woolmer. “I have huge respect for Hugo, because he comes from motorsport, and so understands holistic system design, weight distribution and other engineering disciplines vital for EVs,” Woolmer says. “I was less enthused about hydrogen than he was, but I absolutely embraced his thinking around lightweighting and whole system design, centred around his ‘Mass Decompounding’ principle. If you can make one subcomponent lighter, say, dial back 100 kg on the motor, you make a lighter EV, which means you can use a lighter brake, suspension, chassis and battery pack. And, taking weight out of all those means you can switch to a lighterstill motor again, because you don’t need as much torque to propel the vehicle.” With that principle in mind, Woolmer soon found himself undertaking his PhD project, focusing on traction systems for upcoming EVs and HEVs. Qualities he was particularly interested in were how they had been designed to reduce weight, and to increase both efficiency and manufacturability. Softly, softly “That got me looking into electric motor structures, topologies, and components that could reduce their weight and size for automotive applications. I was especially interested in a material called SMC [soft magnetic composite], made by Hoganas in Sweden,” Woolmer says. “Making e-machines with stacked, electric steel laminations limits you to 2D shapes, but SMC powder is effectively electric steel – just steel with a lamination-type coating around each piece of powder – and you can press it in complex ways to make 3D shapes. Early SMCs weren’t great, and in the 90s Soft magnetic composites are a critical part of how YASA maximises the power-to-weight ratio of its e-motors (Image courtesy of YASA)
18 rapid r&d and innovating crucial new forms of pole combinations, resonance workarounds, and cooling to reach the customer’s torque, power and packaging constraints. For instance, when getting heat out of the stator proved impossible for the three-layer winding that YASA had initially opted for (specifically due to how hard Jaguar pushed them in testing), Woolmer and his team switched to an edge winding in which cooling fluid runs in contact with a single winding layer. A subsequent series of tip tests (consisting of about 10 rapid, 0-60 mph acceleration and braking cycles) by Jaguar found the new cooling design could withstand around 17 cycles without derating. This has led to a cooling approach unique to YASA’s modern motors in which cooling oil flows directly past the copper, bypassing the many layers of epoxy, slot linings and jackets typically seen in radial machines, and taking advantage of the thinner componentry of the axial-flux topology. “Jaguar were happy, henceforth putting our motors into five or six C-X75s to take to the press, with those cars performing fantastically, and then the project got cancelled,” Woolmer says. “It was meant to go into a limited, 250-unit production run and, for us, 500 motors would have been a big deal, but we’d still learned how to massively step up our capabilities and that of our technology, and it led a year or two later to our Koenigsegg project.” By that time, Woolmer and his team had distilled these new capabilities into the higher-speed YASA 400, and Koenigsegg sought to install two YASA 750s on the rear axle of its Regera PHEV touring sportscar, with a YASA 400 on its engine. As both motors were now largely COTS products, this collaboration saw only minor modifications and custom work compared with the Jaguar and other projects. With around 200 Regeras meriting 600 YASA motors, this provided a vital runway for YASA to go on to work on numerous series-hybrid powertrains with McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and more. “That took a new generation of technology and re-engineering, going from lab-built parts to something that could go down a production line – from bonding techniques to laser-welding, from machined glass fibres to moulded polymers, and so forth,” Woolmer says. Machines making machines This new generation is enshrined in YASA’s facility at the Oxford Pioneer Park in Yarnton, Oxfordshire, which is the first model factory for producing its e-motors at scale. “To get to where we are with this facility, it has taken a lot of inventing machines that could make our machines. People take for granted that there’s a pre-existing supply chain for everything we want to do, and there just wasn’t,” Woolmer says. “Probably 70% of the machines in the factory have been designed by YASA’s automation team; the other 30% includes some COTS machines they’ve modified too. For example, we can use a balancing machine to balance the rotors – that’s a COTS machine and process – but the single-layer, edge-winding process for our stator coils was developed in-house, as was the way we impregnate them. We absolutely could not have afforded to go to a big automation consulting company to get a process developed for us, so making one in-house was the way to go.” Further examples exist. For instance, approaches for laser-welding polymer components are widespread in automotive, but extremely rare in electric motor manufacturing, so YASA’s technique was also developed in-house. July/August 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering In conversation | Tim Woolmer Early collaborations for YASA included designing and providing e-motors for Jaguar’s hybrid C-X75 concept car... (Image courtesy of Jaguar) ..and for the Koenigsegg Regera (Image courtesy of Koenigsegg)
19 Beyond this, the assembly of each motor design is an entirely YASApatented series of processes, including the pressing of the aforementioned SMC blocks, copper winding, joint welding, enclosure moulding and welding, and various other bonding and coating techniques. From Yarnton to Berlin Naturally, a production run of Mercedes cars (and those of other OEMs interested in using YASA’s motors for their next-generation EVs) will consist of much higher numbers than the few hundred previously sought by Jaguar and Koenigsegg. “Automotive does tend to be conservative when scaling up, and so you don’t really see new technologies going from zero to very high volume overnight,” Woolmer observes. “In my experience, one can go up by one order of magnitude at a time, but not two, so as the Yarnton facility can produce tens of thousands of motors per year, our next act could see us ramping up to something in the hundreds of thousands, but not the millions just yet.” He says part of YASA’s remit from Mercedes is to remain reasonably agile and innovative in e-motor development in order to maintain a technological edge in electric propulsion, while the German parent company provides an easily adjustable lever of industrial capital and know-how to scale up when it is deemed optimal. “Mercedes really knows how to build factories, how to write 500-page specifications, how to optimise the perfect mass-manufacturing machine – none of that is YASA’s heritage. So, we’ve worked extremely closely with Mercedes over the last three years, and now they’re converting one of their factories in Berlin from making ICEs to making YASA products in the hundreds of thousands,” Woolmer notes. “Most of the processes you’d find in Yarnton, you’ll find in Berlin soon, but they’ve all been polished, optimised and scaled. A lot of what is performed manually in Yarnton has been automated in Berlin, meaning less manual handling, less pushing of goods on trolleys, more conveyors and robotic arms. Doing that takes a lot of money, because automation is expensive, but that was always the vision for working with Mercedes: to scale the technology.” While not an official plan, Woolmer acknowledges that after producing hundreds of thousands of YASA motors, the next stage will be to output millions. The fundamental question prior to making that great leap will revolve around whether the best place for its axial-flux machines is in highperformance sports EVs – Mercedes’ main motivation in acquiring YASA – or whether new roots will be found to justify scaling this up to millions for mainstream automotive. “It’s too early to tell just yet, but as we watch our technology getting scaled up, and how Mercedes is pulling that off, you really start to get a sense of Mercedes’ strengths, and that even though developments in Yarnton and Berlin are both going great, we’ve not hit our sweet spot just yet,” concludes Woolmer. “It’s a very good partnership, and the best is yet to come.” E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 Tim Woolmer Tim Woolmer was born in Oxford, UK, and he grew up in Somerset in the southwest of England. After attending various local schools in that portion of the country, he returned to Oxford at the age of 20 to begin his undergraduate (Bachelor’s) degree in Engineering with Science. Woolmer continued his studies at Oxford University for some time, going on to do his PhD there from 2005-09. He founded YASA in the same year that his course finished. With his colleagues, he went on to develop axial-flux e-motors for numerous partners across the motorsport and automotive worlds, as well as acquiring more than 150 patents for the yokeless and segmented armature that YASA’s name is derived from, and with which its motors are engineered. In 2018, the company opened its first series production facility in Oxfordshire, capable of outputting up to 100,000 units per year, and it officially became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercedes in 2021. That same year saw the spin-off from YASA of Evolito, for the latter to develop the former’s technology in an aerospace capacity, which Woolmer also works with and supports. YASA’s first facility in Yarnton can produce up to 100,000 e-motors per year. Its next facility in Berlin will be larger and informed by Mercedes’ industrial know-how (Image courtesy of YASA)
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