BMW is a co-lead investor within the $16.1-million Collection A spherical for startup DeepDrive, together with UVC Companions, Bayern Kapital with Wachstumsfonds Bayern, and Continental’s Company Enterprise Capital Unit.
DeepDrive has developed in-wheel electrical motors for EVs and a dual-rotor design that the corporate says saves price and assets in comparison with different designs. The corporate says that its radial flux dual-rotor electrical motor contains energy electronics so it may be put in in any automobile both as a central drive motor or as an in-wheel motor.
The claims embody that DeepDrive’s patented know-how will increase the vary of autos, achieves excessive torque density, is cost-efficient to fabricate, and requires fewer pure assets. “With our dual-rotor know-how, we’re considerably less expensive and environment friendly on the street, shaping tomorrow’s electromobility,” mentioned co-founder and CEO Felix Pörnbacher. “We imagine our know-how will revolutionize automobile electrification. The demand for our growth reveals that we’re heading in the right direction.”
BMW apparently agrees. “With its patented and distinctive e-motor structure, DeepDrive might set new requirements for e-mobility,” mentioned Marcus Behrendt, Managing Director at BMW i Ventures. “DeepDrive’s e-motor know-how is designed for simple and cost-effective mass manufacturing,” he notes, which bodes properly for its potential to succeed in quantity manufacturing.
DeepDrive says it should use this money infusion to begin manufacturing its motors and rent employees with the objective of successful manufacturing commitments from carmakers. The corporate’s claims for its motors embody:
- cost-efficient manufacturing
- 50 p.c much less magnet materials
- 80 p.c much less iron use
- rare-earth-free magnets
- lower than 30 p.c the fee per Nm compared to the state-of-the-art
DeepDrive’s 19-inch-diameter in-wheel motors ship 1,250 Nm torque and 125-kW peak energy at a claimed 97 p.c effectivity in a package deal that weighs a formidable 70.4 lbs. (32 kg). It’s appropriate for compact class and mid-size EVs utilizing lithium iron phosphate or sodium-ion batteries. The central drive motor boasts 700 Nm torque and 300 kW peak energy with a 12,000-rpm most velocity 98 p.c E-drive effectivity and solely 66 lbs. (30kg) of weight.
Twin-Rotor, Radial-Flux Machine
- highest torque and energy density
- small iron losses and excessive materials utilization
- lowest noise emissions and torque ripple
- easy and efficient cooling idea
New Winding Idea
- distributed bar winding
- slot filling issue above 80 p.c
- easy manufacturing
Environment friendly Built-in Silicon Carbide Inverter
- modern topology with SiC MOSFETS
- optimized for decreased losses
- patented, cost-effective topology
DeepDrive’s founders met as members of Technical College Munich’s Components Scholar workforce earlier than banding collectively to discovered this firm. Along with BMW, DeepDrive says it’s working with eight of the highest ten OEMs, with the objective of bringing its know-how to manufacturing by 2026.
