E-Mobility Center Drives
Research for efficient electric mobility
Electric mobility is a market of the future: According to studies, there will be more than 1 million electric cars on Europe’s roads in 2020. Furthermore, there will be approximately 4 million vehicles with a hybrid drive. But how can electric motors be designed to be even more efficient and powerful with electrical steel? This is being investigated by mobility specialists from the steel business of thyssenkrupp in the Bochum “E-Mobility Center Drives” specially designed for this purpose. The centerpiece of the laboratory is the electric motor test bed: It supplies important information for the development of state-of-the-art engines and thereby makes it possible to draw up solutions for lower energy losses and higher rotational speeds. As a result, the engineers from Bochum are helping to rethink the subject of the electric motor.
Key topic: Electrical steel
The developers are devoting their attention primarily to the task of developing electrical steel with high strength levels and the lowest possible energy losses. With success: Together with the developers from the steel business of thyssenkrupp in Duisburg the engineers have produced a type of electrical steel whose core loss is already almost 30 percent below the values for the standard types. And the high strength of the electrical steel makes it possible to produce high rotational speeds within a very small space.
The aim is series production
The optimized types of electrical steel are already being installed in the body of prototypes for future electric and hybrid cars. The “E-Mobility Center Drives” facility helps customers from the automotive industry in the form of a technical adviser and development partner: Suppliers and OEMs are provided with assistance, advice and support in the use of non grain oriented electrical steel.
