I don’t know why more cars don’t use the Lucid EV motors, they are small and powerful
Looks like an interesting motor type. I knew it existed, because I have built some axial generators, but I didn’t know this motor type was hard to control.
If rare earths or magnets should become a problem which manufacturers have to deal with, there’s two more options:
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induction motors (downside: there is a “breakdown torque” above which the field will totally slip out of control instead of lagging and producing torque)
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switched reluctance motors (downside: fancier motor controllers are needed)
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Load bearing “could”.
But if they get the combination of cost and manufacturability right, their motor has the potential to become a go-to low-cost power plant for countless applications.
Great if it they make it work reliability.
It would be surprising if the motors wouldn’t be more powerful with more powerful magnets. They make curved neodynium magnets. Seems like a fundraising angle, but performance will speak for itself.
By using a greater mass of magnets, placed farther out on the spinning plates, and spinning those plates at a higher speed than is typical, Conifer has managed to use weaker iron-based magnets
The article mentions that these particular iron-based magnets are weaker, but I wonder if they could use iron nitride magnets, which are apparently on par with rare neodymium magnets.
