Hyundai’s 800V E-GMP platform has already spawned the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, but they’re not giving up on their 400V lineup quite yet. The Korean company just bought 2 billion Euros’ worth of new motors from Vitesco.
Vitesco first announced the huge order for its 400V electric motors back in March, but we didn’t know who had placed that order until today. The Hyundai Motor Group will buy the 160 kW-rated “3-in-1” units for use in its global B/C class electric cars from 2024.
That’s good news for fans of cars like the Hyundai Kona or Kia Niro electric— and the number of fans of those cars is growing!— who might have felt like Hyundai and Kia was “leaving them behind” in their push to more premium offerings. What’s more, the new Vitesco EMR4 motors offer 10 kW more power than Hyundai’s current 400V cars, while offering greater efficiency, as well.
Vitesco credits a new batch of semiconductors made of silicon carbide (SiC), as well as material upgrades throughout the new motors. “For our new electric axle drive, we have standardized the internal interfaces, while generating the greatest possible flexibility externally, so that we can offer customized and at the same time cost-optimized solutions,” says Thomas Stierle, member of the executive board and head of the Electrification Technology business unit at Vitesco Technologies.
Three versions of the EMR4 motors (80 kW, 160 kW, and 230 kW) can be manufactured on a single production line in Tianjin, China, which would make it relatively easy to switch between more affordable, low-output motors and higher output motors for more upscale or “premium” offerings (think: Hyundai N models).
Hyundai Elantra N
SOURCE | IMAGES: VITESCO, VIA ELECDRIVE.
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