There are a number of other benefits for electric car users. These include a flat floor for the car’s occupants due to the way the electric motor is incorporated into the car’s structure. With a suitable design, this is possible thanks to the absence of an exhaust system and, in the case of all-wheel drive, the absence of a cardan shaft because there is an electric motor on each axle. The transmission systems also take up much less space. “MEB-platform electric motors use a simple reduction gearbox,” Oldřich Vyziblo points out.
In the Enyaq, the driver selects the recuperation intensity by means of stalks beneath the steering wheel.
Another practical advantage of electric motors is recuperation. Electric motors in electric cars can also function like an electricity generator during braking. This not only saves the car’s brakes from wear, but also returns some of the energy to the batteries, something a traditional internal combustion engine car (without a hybrid powertrain) can’t do.
If designed well, electric motors can also be environmentally friendly. For example, parts made from an aluminium mixture can be reused for new parts as part of the recycling process. Copper motor windings are also recycled.
A robot places an electric car’s battery on the chassis.
The current goal in the development of electric motors for cars is to reduce the use of synchronous electric motors’ permanent magnets with precious metal content. One example of this kind of device is a motor that replaces the expensive permanent magnets with standard copper windings similar to stator windings. Known as a synchronous motor with excitation. This type of motor is commonly used in industry, and its use in cars is driven by the optimum price-to-performance ratio. On the minus side, it is not as compact and places higher demands on the power control electronics. “The aim is to reduce the quantity of rare and precious metals contained in the magnets or to do without them altogether,” concludes Jiří Šlechta.