Review and Trends in Electric Traction Motors for Battery Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

This paper presents an up-to-date review of design trends for electric traction motors of electric vehicles, mainly battery electric vehicles and full hybrid electric vehicles. The focus is on permanent magnet traction motors of the major car brands and includes vehicles from the last decade (from 2010 until today), including Jaguar, Tesla, Toyota, BMW, Nissan, General Motors and Audi. The main topic of this study is the electromagnetic motor design, but also mechanical features of the motor as well as trends in magnetic materials are discussed. Furthermore, key performance numbers are evaluated and compared with respect to power density, motor speed and field weakening performance. Finally, trends in traction motor design and performance are presented as well. The aim is to highlight the latest developments in electric traction motors and to provide an efficient overview of the state-of-the-art motor designs, performances, technical limitations, as well as future concepts and trends.