- Title: Electric supercars need to lose weight, power up and cool down
- Date: 27th September 2021
- Summary: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF YASA FACTORY ENGINEERS WORKING VARIOUS OF MACHINE CUTTING COPPER WIRES COPPER WIRES MACHINE CUTTING COPPER WIRES VARIOUS OF ENGINEERS ASSEMBLING YASA'S AXIAL-FLUX ELECTRIC MOTOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) YASA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DR CHRIS HARRIS, SAYING: "So typically, almost all electric cars that are on the market use a type of electric motor called a radio motor that is sausage shaped and actually it is bigger. It is about three times the size of YASA's technology and three times the weight of our technology as well and also has about a 10 percent less efficiency as well from that motor." VARIOUS OF ENGINEERS WORKING IN FACTORY (SOUNDBITE) (English) YASA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DR CHRIS HARRIS, SAYING: "So what YASA's technology enables, is for vehicle manufacturers to get a longer driving range, so you can drive your car further on a single battery charge on our motor - about 10 percent further than you could with a conventional motor that is in all other vehicles today and that is what is one of the very unique things about YASA's technology. It is the efficiency that allows the longer driving range and that also comes through because it is much much lighter, it is a third the weight of conventional motors and again that means you lose less battery to drive a single mile or something like that." VARIOUS OF YASA'S AXIAL-FLUX ELECTRIC MOTORS ON ASSEMBLY LINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) YASA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DR CHRIS HARRIS, SAYING: "YASA's technology is already in production with Ferrari in the FS90, it is also in production with another super car manufacturer and now we are working and have been working for a couple of years with Mercedes on a battery electric vehicle that will come out - an AMG version, that will come out a few years from now." VARIOUS OF ENGINEERS WORKING MOTORS ON ASSEMBLY LINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) YASA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DR CHRIS HARRIS, SAYING: "So YASA's ambition inside Mercedes is first to demonstrate that our technology can scale to the volumes that an AMG type brand will need and thereafter to look at once we can demonstrate the maturity of our technology and the cost points that we can achieve to be able to expand that perhaps into other vehicles in the wider Mercedes range." VARIOUS OF HARRIS AND AN ENGINEER AT END OF LINE LOOKING AT FINISHED MOTORS VARIOUS OF THE MOTORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) YASA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICE, DR CHRIS HARRIS, SAYING: "So I think at this point in time with Ferrari we have reached a certain level that is probably two to three times better than the competition and we still have long way to go in our technology roadmap, not just with the motors but also with the power electronics that we can integrate in them. So we see a longer term roadmap where we can deliver at least three times if not more power density and torque density than the competition." VARIOUS OF READY MOTORS CARS OUTSIDE YASA FACTORY YASA FACTORY EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 11th October 2021 09:29
- Keywords: Axial-flux Yasa electric cars electric motor electric supercars supercars
- Location: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Europe,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA001EWHWGG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Speed has always been paramount for supercar makers, and now they're in the race of their lives to go electric before climate policy cuts their combustion engines.
That's why the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz are turning to startups such as Oxford-based electric motor company YASA for expertise and technology to solve the unique challenges of electrifying the highest-performance vehicles.
Batteries are immensely heavy and electric motors overheat if driven too hard - big problems for a niche industry that charges hundreds of thousands of dollars for lightweight cars capable of screaming round 10 laps of a track at full throttle.
This year Daimler bought YASA, which has developed an "axial flux" high-performance electric motor that weighs 23 kg (50.7 lb), a fraction of a near-300 kg V12 engine in a Ferrari, and is about the size and shape of a steering wheel.
YASA already makes motors for Ferrari, Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg, plus an unnamed British supercar company. It will now supply the high-performance AMG brand at Daimler, which will soon assume the name of its car business Mercedes-Benz.
Makers of high-performance electric cars will ultimately have to find ways to develop lighter, more powerful batteries. But as today's battery technology cannot compete with the sustained power of a petrol engine, they are also rethinking everything from electric motors to car body materials.
Axial flux electric motors are flat, round devices - dubbed "pancakes" - that are lighter and more efficient than conventional cylindrical "radial flux" motors, or "sausages."
That means YASA's motors allow for a longer, more efficient drive, YASA chief executive Chris Harris said.
YASA has a small facility at its Oxford headquarters where it makes motors for Ferrari's SF90 Stradale hybrid and 296 GTB hybrid models, and test motors for AMG. Daimler is studying how to scale up that production at its own factories.
(Production: Ben Makori) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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