The study, titled OCTOPUS (Optimised Components, Test and simulatiOn, toolkits for Powertrains which integrate Ultra high-speed motor Solutions) follows an initial 18-month investigation that delivered a technological breakthrough in electric drive systems for high-performance vehicles.
Building on the UK’s leading electronics research, the resulting electric drive system exceeded the latest permanent magnet motor performance while simultaneously removing the need for both rare-earth magnets and copper windings, delivering a package both cost effective and recyclable at its end of life.
OCTOPUS will take this leading-edge motor, power electronics and packaging transmission design, adding next generation materials, manufacturing processes, simulation and test cycles to deliver a full e-axle powertrain with unique levels of integration and revolutionary performance characteristics suitable for real world application by 2026.
OCTOPUS is an OLEV funded project delivered in partnership with Innovate UK which brings together the following partners with distinct roles and responsibilities:
Bentley Motors – Specification setting, vehicle integration plan and system test
Advanced Electric Machines Ltd – Motor manufacturing and systems assembly
Advanced Electric Machines Research Ltd – Motor and transmission design
The Thinking Pod Innovations Ltd& Nottingham University – Power electronics optimisation and alternative wide band gap system design
The Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) at the University of Bath – Integrated system analysis and proof of concept validation testing
HiETA Technologies Ltd – AM component design and manufacture for thermal management including stator core housing, power electronics and E-axle oil cooling
FD Sims Ltd – Next generation wire technology development
Talga Technologies Ltd – 2D materials development for next generation winding technologies
Diamond Light Source –UK’s national synchrotron light source providing access to X-ray facilities for measurements
Hartree Centre (Science and Technology Facilities Council) – Advanced system testing and co-simulation toolkit development
