Comment by mywittyname
6 days ago
Does this motor design scale down? It's not clear from the article - the article focuses more on the relative efficiency gains over the previous model.
A 30lb 1000hp motor doesn't necessarily mean that they can also produce a 3lb, 100hp motor. It would be cool if it did, but I doubt that it does because usually component strength doesn't scale linearly.
That being said, these are still valuable for traditional EVs. Even if they are only a modest weight savings in the grand scheme of modern vehicle weight, their ability to improve packaging options will be a boon. One thing the industry has dicovered is that the generic "skateboard" platform doesn't make for the best vehicles, in terms of packaging.
I'm more fascinated by the question of whether it scales up... imagine much smaller and more efficient electric engines for cruise liners and cargo ships.
On a cargo ship the last thing you worry about is weight. To the point that they add ballast.
The article and the press release it was derived from says nothing about "more efficient", just smaller.
https://yasa.com/news/yasa-smashes-own-unofficial-power-dens...
Your average cruiseship already has an electric engine, they just have massive generators onboard to power it.
Notably, it’s probably also not very efficient, and eventually they’ll likely upgrade with some of the improvements from these types of motors to save on fuel.