Electric Motors for Electric Cars

3261 Views 10 Replies 4 Participants Last post by electronjen, Mar 15, 2019

electronjen

Discussion Starter · Mar 1, 2019

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good place to find NEW electric motors at low cost. I have been looking around, and have found a few good high power (200hp) motors, however they are prohibitively expensive! (>10k)

FULL DISCLOSER:
My company is designing a 150hp motor/controller all-in-one unit that we hope to sell for under $3000. I am trying to get an idea of if something like that is useful for the DIYers out there or not.

What do you guys think?
Thanks

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EV-4-Me

· #2 · Mar 1, 2019

Under 3k? I'm in. Do you have any more information? Recycled hybrid motors?

The closest AC (induction, pm, whatever) I've seen is the new Hyper 9.

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EV-4-Me

· #5 · Mar 2, 2019

brian_ said:
The original question was about a 200 hp motor - I agree that at that power level new motors are very expensive, and not many salvaged EV motors are at that power... but perhaps only because they are limited by other components of the vehicle.

The ones I'm aware of in the 150hp range are the i3, Volt, and Lexus LS600h main motor. They LS600 motor runs a boosted voltage of 650 and still relies heavily on field weakening, so it may not be viable. I don't know of any that are in the 200hp range.

I mention the Hyper 9 not because of the power, but because it seems to be the cheapest AC package for the performance out there right now...And it still isn't that great.

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EV-4-Me

· #7 · Mar 2, 2019

brian_ said:
If we're getting into specific examples:

The Volt is a hybrid - I don't think either motor in the transaxle can put out 200 hp

I'm surprised that MG-2 in the Lexus LS 600h hybrid transmission is so powerful: Toyota lists it as 221 hp and 300 Nm torque. The GS 450h is nearly identical, but rated at 197 hp and 275 Nm.

The Chevrolet Bolt motor is rated at 150 kw (200 hp). I really doubt that it can be purchased for $3K at retail, especially with a controller; it also comes integrated with a transaxle, leading back to my questions about configuration.

The HyPer9 suffers (in power output) from being intended for relatively low voltage (by modern EV standards), because it is designed for a low-voltage market (mostly industrial vehicles). I wonder what voltage it could handle, and what power it could produce if it can run at higher voltage.

Nissan announced an "e+" or "Plus" version of the Leaf - not available yet - which has a motor power rating of ~160 kW (215 hp). It may be simply the existing Leaf motor, rated higher because it less limited by the larger battery (60 kWh) of this coming model... so any Leaf might be an example of a 200 hp motor. Even the regular (40 kWh) Leaf motor is now rated at 110 kW (147 hp). This illustrates the importance of the issue of operating voltage and other limitations of the rest of the vehicles when considering salvaged motors.

Of course, all Tesla motors are rated at more than 200 hp each; I've never heard of one being used separate from its integrated transaxle.

Ya, none of the hybrid motors can do 200hp. Both of the specs for the LS600h and LS450h are optimistic. The ORNL reports for both dispute the factory specs. The peak power (18s burst) for the LS600h's MG2 was tested to be 110kW. I don't remember what the 450's is.

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