Electric Motorcycles & Electric Bicycles

My goal with this post is that electric motor design is changing and technology is improving.

Just because there is a technology shift in electric cars, does NOT mean that the same technologies will be isolated just to electric cars, but rather those same technologies will more-than-likely be shifted into electric motorcycles and also down into electric bicycles.

A deeper understanding of the technology will give you an awareness of its benefits and reasons why companies are deciding to move into this direction.

Technology shifts are not just for batteries, there are many other changes going on in the drive for electrification throughout the planet.

In the early 1990's I was working as a line tech at a Mazda dealership and had the opportunity to dismantle a radiator fan damaged in an accident. It was a Lynch type axial motor that ran quite nicely despite damage to the housing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynch_motor

It did not take kindly to being stalled!

Robert ;

Thank you for sharing this very interesting electro-magnetic motor design as i was not aware of this type of motor. It seems like this has been around for a while a a motorcycle motor, but is not common elsewhere.

Strange how there are unique designs that emerge that are tailored to specific requirements for size, weight, cost, and performance.

Steve

Another motor called transverse flux type is being researched. It's a very low speed high torque design optimized for direct drive, though it would be simple to add a gear train to suit requirements.

https://altoona.psu.edu/video/35096/2020/12/14/transverse-flux-motor

Haven't done much more research, but it bears looking into.

Robert ;

Thank you for providing this very interesting development that is being explored at the University level (my old alma mater).

I think that this needs more refinement and i disagree on the EM tool that they used ! - - -they should have used the Ansys Maxwell (student) version and they would have had MUCH better EM results.

Also they should have used these other really good tools : JMAG and PSIM

JMAG is good for the core, laminations, and windings.

PSIM is good for the EM simulations of frequency, torque, rotational speed, etc.

We *now* live in a world of cheap fast computers with multiple cores, huge memory (tens if not hundreds of gigbytes) and EM simulation software that is exceptional in its CORRELATION.

The fact that they had poor to moderate CORRELATION is an indicator that their process is *broken*.

CORRELATION is the metric for EM design process quality and in antenna design it is crucial to creating and developing DETERMINISTIC designs.

Otherwise design becomes this mindless (and possibly endless) iteration approach with ZERO confidence in knowing what your outcome will be !

We live in a new paradigm of design entry and simulation *before* creation.

Experimental result outcomes are driven by good understanding of now just engineering (regardless of the discipline), not just the tools (as a tool jockey), not just the CAM process or materials (e.g. meta-materials), but most importantly the CORRELATION of experimental results to simulation results.

This can be tricky to navigate as the simulation tools have quirks (and limitations), as do the models, as well as the SIGNIFICANCE of the parameters of the models (or other simulator metrics).

Knowing how the models and the simulator *behaves* is the key to understanding the *significance* of the parameters and is the goal to good *correlation*.

Once the correlation process is well understood and characterized, *this* is where the real power of DFx comes into play !! - - - where x is *anything*.

And i know that thru the many R&D papers (thousands) that i have reviewed over the last decade, *all* really good designs have great correlation.

This model that i created of a phased array is a simple example of the EM process with fantastic performance but very low cost materials and simple design complexity :

Grabcad model

28 GHz (Ka Band) 16 Element 5G Linear Phased Array Assembly with 2.4mm Edge Connectors

This is a model that I created from a white paper titled "Broadband mm-Wave Microstrip Array Antenna with Improved Radiation Characteristics for Different 5G Applications" by Mohsen Khalily, Member, IEEE, Rahim Tafazolli, Senior Member, IEEE, Pei Xiao, Senior Member, IEEE, and Ahmed A. Kishk, Fel...

Here's the latest news on the Mercedes Benz axial flux motor :

https://www.electronicdesign.com/markets/automotive/article/21243040/electronic-design-the-lure-of-the-axialflux-ev-motor