Bentley Motors OCTOPUS E-Axle

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