Axial Flux Electric Motor May Not Take You Back to the Future, But How’s 0-60 in Under 3 Seconds?

This ain’t yo daddy’s Flux Capacitor. A “stealthy” (read: “completely unheard of” — stealthy would imply actively trying to stay under the radar) itty-bitty start-up company from down under has come up with an in-wheel electric motor that might just make electric cars the outright kings of speed.

The “Axial Flux 3-Phase AC Induction Wheel Motor,” as Evans Electric calls it, not only has an important sounding name, its inventors are coming up with some pretty ballsy claims that cars equipped with them could get from 0-60 mph in under 3 seconds. That’s the kind of acceleration that could, quite literally, rip your eyeballs from their all-important perch in front of your brain.

Gas 2.0

=> Axial Flux Electric Motor May Not Take You Back to the Future, But How’s 0-60 in Under 3 Seconds?.

GM To Manufacture Electric Motors; First GM Motors Will Go Into Next-Gen Two-Mode Hybrid in 2013

Noting that power electronics and electric machine technology as well as battery technology will be core to General Motors in its multiple paths to vehicle electrification, Tom Stephens, GM Vice Chairman, Global Product Operations announced that the company will expand its in-house electric vehicle development capabilities by becoming the first major US automaker to design and manufacture electric motors.

By doing so, Stephens said, GM will lower cost and improve performance, quality, reliability and manufacturability of electric motors by controlling design, materials selection and production processes. The first GM-designed and built electric motors are scheduled to debut in 2013 in next-generation, rear-wheel-drive two-mode hybrid technology.

The expected improvement in power density in the GM-designed and built motors for the longitudinal application of the two-mode hybrid—on a per motor basis, these machines are about 25% smaller, output is about 20% higher, and efficiency is up—will allow its application in a range of vehicles smaller than the full-size trucks and SUVs in which it is applied today, including cars.

GM will invest some $246 million in the next-generation hybrid system and a manufacturing site for the motors, and will announce the new site and specifics later this week.

In the future, electric motors might become as important to GM as engines are now. By designing and manufacturing electric motors in-house, we can more efficiently use energy from batteries as they evolve, potentially reducing cost and weight—two significant challenges facing batteries today.

—Tom Stephens

Green Car Congress

=> GM To Manufacture Electric Motors; First GM Motors Will Go Into Next-Gen Two-Mode Hybrid in 2013.

Trexa EV Platform Lets You Design Your Own Car

I loved LEGOS back in “the day”. I would spend hours upon hours building and looking for just the right pieces to complete my architectural nightmare. Then I would always knock it down in my terrifying rendition of Godzilla, just ’cause. LEGOS are still awesome, but you can’t exactly live in a house made of them as James May of Top Gear proved.

Anyway, the whole LEGOS analogy is the first thing I thought of when I read about the Trexa EV platform. It is basically a completely integrated, all-wheel drive electric skateboard that you can build your own kind of car upon. Pretty freakin’ cool, right?

Gas 2.0

via Trexa EV Platform Lets You Design Your Own Car.