[Zoooom_Enthusiast]

I was looking for a motor for my DIY conversion, and I stumbled upon a used permanent magnet 3-phase AC servo motor, it looks perfect for a conversion, it's small, light, water cooled, and can handle 110 kW. Now the question from the title, can it be used in an EV? I heard that AC motors that are used for vehicles need to have position sensors so they can apply stationary torque, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have position sensors, but being a servo motor means it has an encoder, the question is, can you hook up a rotary encoder to a motor controller to get stationary torque? The model of the servo is: Phase Motion Control Ultract U1320C.40.2, the weight is around 80 kg (176 lbs), and it's about 50 cm (19 in) long. I attached some pictures of it too. Also, what controller would be suitable to run it?

 

[remy_martian]

In machine tools, servos are usually run by expensive closed loop (for position) servo amplifiers that require a separate, low noise, & beefy power supply.

You'll need to post its spec sheet to anticipate what people need to see to assess it.

 

[Zoooom_Enthusiast]

My experience with servos is pretty limited, I know they are just normal motors (in this case a permanent magnet AC motor) that have a rotary encoder attached to it, the expensive closed loop system is needed for precise positioning only, which is not needed in a car unless you want nanometer precision parallel parking. My question was, would the motor part of the servo be usable for an electric car, and can the rotary encoder (if needed) be connected to a motor controller. And about the datasheet, I can't find it, looks like the manufacturer discontinued that model, if anyone has it's datasheet send it my way. The closest I could find to it's datasheet is attached bellow, also on page 6 you can find the signal connector pin out.

 

[lj516]

It's basically just an ev motor, the expensive closed loop controllers needed are more than commonplace today and any 3p ac controller will fit your needs

 

[brian_]

I heard that AC motors that are used for vehicles need to have position sensors so they can apply stationary torque, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have position sensors, but being a servo motor means it has an encoder, the question is, can you hook up a rotary encoder to a motor controller to get stationary torque?

The position sensor (which is an encoder) is used with any synchronous (not induction) AC motor so that it can run at all - it's not just for stationary torque. Some are run sensorless - they controller looks at the reaction of the motor to applied power - but that's not used in motors at a power level useful in EVs.

Position sensing for a servomotor will presumably be more precise than for other applications, but the purpose is the same - the controller needs to apply power in correct phase relationship with the rotor position.