New Axiflux Motor developed in Melbourne, Australia

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May 18, 2009
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I heard about a new electric motor being developed in Melbourne Australia.

http://www.axiflux.com

The system uses independently controlled coils and has the ability to be more efficient at a wider range of speeds and loads.
They are fitting a 300KW Axiflux motor to each of the rear wheels of a kit car as a demonstrator.
I contacted the inventor to see if the technology could be scaled to ebike size, however he responded that their motor has cost benefits for power levels over 50KW.
Cheers
Paul
 
Sounds like a bunch of marketing hype to me. I hope I'm wrong.
 
Axiflux said:
...One application of the Adaptive Magnetic Flux Array (AMFA) technology which is already well underway is the Axiflux Supercar, a 600kW and 3000nM electric sportscar wherein the two electric motors are located within the wheel-well and are barely larger than the brake assembly found on a sportscar.
This is the 2nd time in 2 days i have come across (independant ?) claims of ultra high torque hub motors.
The other was here ..http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=48042

Is this a co-incidence ?..a trend in EV promo's ?, or are they linked ?
 
For some odd reason the fact the website has no pictures make me think it is less of a scam

There is a ac electric motor used for towing airplanes than can switch phases
Between 12/9/6/3 phases
It uses harmonics as sort of a magnetic "gearing"
Each coil with its own amp gets even more interesting....
 
The only thing I can think of is that, by using control for each individual coil, they get rid of the winding factor...
Theoretically, with a winding factor of for example 95%, you could reduce the losses by 10%...

Not difficult to build, just costs a lot of hardware. You could build a 12 magnet poles 11 coils motor with 11 output
stages etc, would be fun (you're no longer forced to use multiples of 3 coils etc).. my controller algorithm would be
able to handle this, but it would need an FPGA to build as you need 11 x 2 PWM outputs and the typical MCU
has 3 x 2... sound too much like work to me :mrgreen:

Actually, unbeknown to him John (CR) is walking down this road with his 6 phase scooter motor
 
incredulous!

"Developing 150kW of power and a truck-like 2800Nm of torque (compared with 145kW/400Nm for the current EVE Commodore) the new motor is also claimed to be up to 30 per cent more efficient and 36kg lighter, contributing to increased battery range."

Axiflux_main.jpg


Even more torque than the yasa motor! If true this will kill the multispeed gearbox debate once and for all on regular size vehicles 8)

By IAN PORTER and HAITHAM RAZAGUI
A MELBOURNE-based start-up will soon start trials of a radical new motor in Australia’s only electric Commodore.

Smaller, lighter and less expensive than conventional units, the motor will power one of EV Engineering’s fleet of electrified Holden Commodores that feature a battery pack under the bonnet in place of a petrol engine.

Developing 150kW of power and a truck-like 2800Nm of torque (compared with 145kW/400Nm for the current EVE Commodore) the new motor is also claimed to be up to 30 per cent more efficient and 36kg lighter, contributing to increased battery range.

Rather than requiring a heavily modified rear sub-frame as with the current EVE Commodore, the more compact motor is hoped to fit inside a standard Holden rear differential, enabling the standard sub-frame to be retained.

The motor’s more compact size is largely due to the fact its design allows it to dispense of a separate transmission and inverter electronics.

Developed by Victorian electronic engineer David Jahshan and his company Axiflux, the adaptive magnetic flux array motor (AMFA) uses switching components that were prohibitively expensive until the popularity of plasma televisions brought the price down.

EV Engineering – formed by a group of local car parts makers and service providers – last year converted seven Holden Commodores to electric power to demonstrate the feasibility of electric-powered large cars.

Following the successful completion of the construction phase, the seven Commodores are now out on the road in the hands of interested parties, but EV Engineering has had to be scaled back in size.

The AMFA project has arrived in time to dispel some of the uncertainty over EVE’s future following the announcement last month that major partner, EV charging infrastructure provider and battery swap technology pioneer Better Place, was having its Australian funding cut.

EVE will help with the development of the AMFA motor by using one of its Commodores as a mobile test bed.

In a system similar in concept to cylinder deactivation technology on internal combustion engines, the new motor has 23 embedded micro-controllers that automatically adjust power consumption to the immediate needs of the driver and the vehicle.

Mr Jahshan said his new motor comprises 23 little segments, each controlled by its own micro-processor.

This would have been prohibitively expensive a few years ago, but the cost of the processors has fallen from $50 each to around $2 now.

“As I was designing the motor, whenever I ran into a problem, I would just shove in another micro-processor with the idea that I would come back to that problem later,” Jahshan told GoAuto at the Cars of Tomorrow conference.

“When I completed the motor, it became apparent the multiple processors were the key to the design,” he said.

Introducing the motor at the conference, EVE chief engineer Tim Olding explained that the motor was different in another aspect, as all the poles and magnets were on the same axis as the rotor.

“It’s not three phase like other electric motors, it’s 23 phase, which means the system can selectively turn off, or shut down, parts of the motor.”

This means the power efficiency of the motor at part load can be as high as 95 per cent, whereas other electric motors sink as low as 70 per cent efficiency under part load.

Mr Olding said there were other advantages. Having the microprocessors embedded in the motor eliminated the need for a separate inverter, greatly easing the packaging problem.

In addition, the characteristics of the motor are such that the car designer can do away with a gearbox and incorporate the differential into the motor unit.

He said the drivetrain of the EVE Commodores weighed 97kg while a drivetrain with the new motor is expected to weigh around 60kg.

Mr Jahshan, who is a visiting fellow in the electrical and electronic engineering department at Melbourne University, said he started on the project four years ago after he and his cousin decided to make their own electric car.

Then he realised he needed a new electric motor that was more efficient than the motors on the market at the time.

“How hard can it be to design an electric motor?” he asked himself in the time-honoured mode of inventors.

Since his cousin pulled out the project, Mr Jahshan has been pushing the project along for the last three years and has won support from a range of financial backers.

His company, Axiflux, is currently taking out patents around the world, partly because he believes he motor will be relatively easy to build.

“”It will use only bog-standard production techniques, well established metallurgy and normal materials,” he said.

Mr Jahshan has completed two small-scale prototypes and is presently building the first full-scale, 150kW motor for bench testing.

It is expected to be running in a month and in an EVE Commodore by year end.

Having access to the EVE Commodore will give the motor a fast track to market compared with having to build test vehicles from scratch.
 
Just a "bump" really..
..but it is worth keeping up to date with this if it comes to anything in practice.
Also it good to see they are moving away from the "in wheel" motor concept to an motor integrated trans-axle/diff unit.
If this really is a 95+% eff motor with low rpm ( direct drive, no reduction) , they have the makings of a killer drive train that should help push the user range out to near 200km on that EV Commodore
EV Commodore before the Axiflux motor..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drGTN5BRefE&feature=player_embedded#!
And for reference.. it seems to be a 31 (ish ?) kWhr pack...
EV Engineering assemble its own battery pack from Li-Ion cells sourced from Korean-based battery supplier SB LiMotive – a joint-venture between Samsung and consortium member Bosch.

“They are the same cells that go into the BMW i3 and i8 products, so it’s a nice high-quality product and that’s the advantage of having partners like Bosch – they can give you access to the right technologies.”

The Commodore EV prototypes will be powered by 210 40-amp-hour cells, each of which are positioned on a water-cooled plate to extract heat, positioned four storeys high at the front and one high at the rear, and fitted with a quick-coupling device to allow fast replacement.
 
I was in Melbourne yesterday at a metal stamping facility. They said been asked to quote on some new kind of electric motor that was a world first for Melbourne. Hmmm.
 
Well, its not totally "Vaporware"..
http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/start-ups/startup-profile-axiflux
Axiflux-electric-motor.jpg&maxW=630

07RWAxiflux-1378239879184.jpg


Axiflux motors use small, modular copper coils. Depending on the application, hundreds of the modules could be used in a single motor, but the number is usually 20 or so. Together, the smaller coils act like a single larger coil. However, each has its own set of control circuitry—hence the green circuit boards—and software that can turn it off at lower speeds and loads and back on again as needed. The company is working on adaptive software for electric vehicle motors that could learn drivers’ preferences—such as whether they prefer power and acceleration over range—or for generators in wind turbines that can respond better to the weather in a particular location.

The company recently demonstrated its motor in a prototype electric sedan built by EV Engineering, a collaborative venture between Australian industry and government research organizations. The sedan, a revamped version of a car made by Holden, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors, normally uses a 145-kilowatt motor and drivetrain that cost around US $26 000. Mosely says that replacing this motor with one from Axiflux produced a 20 to 30 percent improvement in driving range with a motor that weighs 30 to 40 kilograms less and costs less than $5000 to make.
 
I think its a bunch of baloney, its been in and out of media circles for years now (just by looking at this thread) and its still not in any mass production even after being put in a test trial Holden Commodore which means they rubbed shoulders with General Motors giant in the US..

If it had merit the money needed would come, its been too long now for me to believe in it at all (pretty much), if I am wrong well my negative post can't hurt.

Bet the creator looks something like this (and to make my post more entertaining), he is hopelessly addicted to naive investor funds always needing more.
vampire2.jpg

Probably take a long time yet but eventually once hes at the end of the road and no one not even some guy that lives under a bridge believes a word he says, he will then look like this.
vampire-460.jpg

Mind you it would make my day to be proven completely wrong!
 
Yes, its always really disappointing when such a good idea/development just fizzes out for whatever reason.
I like to believe that the motor does work, but probably is very complex (and expensive) and in need of serious development funding still to make it useable.
The reality is that there just is not the market or demand for serious EV systems either here or even worldwide to take ideas like this and turn them into a commercial product. :cry:
Sad to say, i suspect the EV Commodore wont be seen much in the future either now, with Holden moving off shore.
 
I reckon I know the guy who drives the one in the VE commodore as a daily driver, time to ask some questions...
 
Hi All,
I spoke with the founder at Axiflux and he told me that they are now working on industrial motors only and do not have any capacity to look at EV's at this time.
Bummer
Paul
 
Well there's six Commodores out there [FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND TIGHTLY-CLOSED EYES] get hunting.

Or start waterjetting our own. Design looks kinda simple
 
Samd said:
Well there's six Commodores out there [FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND TIGHTLY-CLOSED EYES] get hunting.

Or start waterjetting our own. Design looks kinda simple

I would be interested in investing $$$$$ what do you think Sam?

Cheers Kiwi
 
I doubt the value in this project is the physical construction of the motor. Rather it's value would be in the control function and software operating it.
 
Samd said:
Well there's six Commodores out there [FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND TIGHTLY-CLOSED EYES] get hunting.
Whilst I would love to see these motors/ cars become commercial,....I guess both are doomed !
But, even if the motor is a dud, those prototype EV Commodores would be one hell of a base for a EV project, especially now that other AC motors (even Tesla's). are becoming practical DIY options (EG kiwiev)

Interesting ( but dated) article...
http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/00E47CEBDCA7B398CA257CD7001A738C
..sound like those Commodors are still runing around Melbourne somewhere !

“After Holden made the announcement they pulled out as well, leaving Axiflux as the sole partner.”
Even though the $3.6 million start-up assistance received under the former Labor federal government’s now-defunct Green Car Innovation Fund has dried up, Mr Jahshan said the fleet of seven electric Commodores that were created with the money were still in use, and would probably run until they failed.
He said Bosch Australia had a couple of vehicles it was using, while another had been loaned to Melbourne University for a study that will dramatically enhance Axiflux’s understanding of how electric cars use, and abuse, their batteries.
 
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