Motor

Show Report

Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo Europe 2018

Lawrence Butcher reports on some of the latest products that caught his eye at this major e-mobility show. May 2018 saw this annual expo take place in Hanover, Germany, where it also incorporated The Battery Show. Concurrently, the conference element of the show saw a...

Focus on...

Connectors

Choosing the most suitable type of connector for an electric vehicle subsystem is governed by a range of factors, as Rory Jackson explains. Connectors are such vital components in vehicles that they make any explanation of their role redundant. What can be underestimated though are...

PS

Superconducting aircraft motors

Power density and power-toweight ratio have always been very near the top of the list of essential attributes for aircraft propulsion systems, particularly in those elements that work at the sharp end of converting stored chemical energy into thrust (writes Peter Donaldson). Rockets aside, the gas turbine engine has yet to be beaten in this respect. In the electrified...

Show Report

Battery Show North America 2019 Part 2

Rory Jackson follows up his first report from this show with further highlights of the products that were on display. There were so many new innovations at The Battery Show – its largest to date – that we didn’t have room in our previous issue (Winter 2019) to highlight all the ones we...

In Operation

Lightning Systems LCF truck

Rory Jackson reports on how this electrified version of a mainstream truck is operated and maintained. Lightning Systems carries out full all-electric powertrain integrations on commercial road vehicles such as cargo trucks, buses and passenger shuttles. Founded in 2008 with a focus on hydraulic hybrid propulsion technology...

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Magnetics

Making electric motors more efficient means looking beyond the magnetic materials and switching techniques, as Nick Flaherty explains. The development of the first rare earth magnets in the 1960s by scientists at the US Air Force Materials Laboratory introduced a key new capability for e-mobility. Combining yttrium and cobalt in an...

Show Report

Battery Show North America 2019

The latest battery cooling, management, monitoring and other related technologies were exhibited at this show. Rory Jackson has some highlights. Every year, the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan, plays host to The Battery Show North America (co-located with Electric & Hybrid Tech Expo North America). With more than...

In Operation

Lion8 refuse truck

Rory Jackson details the development of this combined all-electric truck and refuse collection system. When the owners of the Lion Electric Company first set their eyes on engineering specialised commercial vehicles for niche users who have distinct operational and cost requirements, they spent an initial five years on planning and r&d for their...

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Radial flux motors

The latest trend in radial flux motor design is to boost power density while reducing cost. Nick Flaherty explains how it’s being done. The radial flux motor is the workhorse of e-mobility. The basic structure of a static rotor (stator) driving a moving rotor in a radial magnetic field is used in different form factors and power ranges for all kinds of...

Dossier

Performance Projects / Dynium electric tractor

Peter Donaldson relates the development of this tractor’s powertrain, which is designed to operate in confined spaces. When Dynium Robot decided to rethink the tractor to work in the confined spaces of orchards and polytunnels, the off-road robotics specialist turned to racecar engineering company Performance Projects to design the vehicle from...