Thanks to the simple design of electric motors, the era of electromobility has brought a number of companies to the automotive industry that have not yet dealt with automobiles.
Now, a renowned motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha has announced the development of an electric motor reaching the industry’s highest class in output density. The motor is aimed at use in hyper-EV models and other offerings in the high-output mobility segment.
Since last year, Yamaha has been accepting orders for the development of prototype electric motors with an output of 35 to 200 kW for use in cars and other machines. Now the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer has decided to present its capabilities, with its newly developed unit that boasts a maximum output in the 350 kW (469 hp) class.
The main advantage of the oil-cooled system is the compact design, which treats mechanical and electronic components as a single unit while integrating the gear and inverter into one unit. It operates with an operating voltage of 800 V. Yamaha. Thanks to its compact dimensions, it anticipates that the resulting car could use up to four of these units, with one for each wheel, to provide an all-wheel drive with a theoretical combined total power of around 1,900 hp.
Regarding commissioned prototype development, Yamaha will leverage its production technology and know-how in the casting, machining, and assembly fields. This will give the company the flexibility to adapt to the needs of motorcycles and its numerous other products, its prototyping equipment and facilities, and more in order to develop prototype motors tailoring to the specific requirements of clients in a short period.
Yamaha will begin accepting orders for commissioned prototype development from April this year. It also intends to present the 350 kW class unit and its other electric motor prototypes at the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2021 Yokohama scheduled for May 26 to May 28, 2021.
