New Subaru and Mitsubishi EV motors!

by Mark D Larsen
(Eden, Utah, USA)

Suburu and Mitsubishi EV Motors

Suburu and Mitsubishi EV Motors

Subaru and Mitsubishi are testing their up-and-coming EVs in the USA this year. We have yet to see any specs however.

I was wondering if anyone can tell, from mere photos, exactly what kind of electric motor they are using.

In the uploaded picture, the Subaru motor is on the left, and the Mitsubishi motor on the right.

I am not an engineer, by any stretch of the slide rule, but I think(?) that Subaru's motor is DC, and with hose connections for a cooling system. My guess (?) is that Mitsubishi's motor might be AC, with air cooling.

More knowledgeable EV advocates need to enlighten me! Thanks.

--Mark ("Yanquetino")

Hi, Mark!

Dan Bentler, our EV motor dude, says:

"At first glance I thought they were the same motor.

However they both appear water cooled.
The left hand motor has the tubing attachments on the left end as depicted, the right hand one also looks water cooled there is what looks like a tube fitting on the "near end upper left corner".

ASSUMING they are water cooled, and
I see no covers for brush rigging
my conclusion is they are probably both 3 phase AC.
I also believe the major auto makers Ford GM Toyota have all gone with AC and I think that trend will continue."

- Dan

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starstarstarstarstar 		Very Informative!
by: Anonymous

Electric cars are getting very common now as more and more manufacturers are in production today. So this a very informative site with material on EVs.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Discussion of electric traction motors.
by: Jim Hendershot

There are two types of so called AC motors used for EVs and hybrids. Tesla and Wrightspeed plus the Toyota RAV4 each use ASynchronous induction motors while all others, (including all other Toyotas, GM Volt, Ford hybrids etc) each use PM AC synchronous motors. (Formerly called brushless DC motors when controlled differently) There is a very big difference between these two types of machines. Asychronous induction or PM-AC Synchronous.

The induction motor has current flowing in the rotor conductors which makes it difficult to cool and at peak torques it gets very hot. In addition it is not synchronous so the rotor slips all the time. Since there are no magnets the inverter supply must provide magnetizing current. This means the power factor can never be unity like a PM machine so the inverter must have higher current capability compared to the PM-AC machine.

The AC Induction machine is very elegant in concept and well understood plus it is well tooled around the world as it is used as line driven motors everywhere. I believe this is why Tesla and Whrightspeed selected this machine because it represented much less risk and lower R & D cost to get it right. Neither Tesla nor Wrightspeed had deep pockets for development of newer PM-AC motors like Toyota, GM, Ford Audi, Porsche, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Daimler and BMW had (who all use PM-AC synchronous motors not AC Induction motors).

The PM machine has only magnets (expensive) in the rotor for higher torque and power density than the Asynchronous machines. The induction machine is normally limited to 4 poles and the PM machines are 8 (Toyota), 10 (Chevy Volt) or even 12 poles (BMW i3) which makes them potentially much smaller than the Tesla type 4 pole motor for same output torque.
Output power is adjusted by motor speed and gear ratio to the wheels. Torque production is the key parameter inside the electric motor. For any given torque output 2 X the speed yields 2X the power. Note Toyota increased the motor speed from 5600 rpm max for the first Prius to the current Prius at 13.300 max rpm to achieve more power in a smaller package. (with an 8 pole PM rotor)
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		NetGain motor
by: Lynne

The Warp motor is from NetGain Motors, and it's a good EV motor. You'll be happy with it. The AC vs. DC debate? I asked Victor at Metric Mind about that - you can read the interview with Metric Mind here if you haven't already seen it.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		AC versus DC?
by: Marlin Roberts

I'm thinking of converting a car to EV this summer. The motor I'm looking at is DC instead of AC. Is there advantages to AC? The motor I think I'm going to purchase is called a "Warp". Has anyone heard any good or bad news about this motor?

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