A Sustainable Booster Induction Motor for Dual Axle Automotive Applications

This work evaluates replacing copper hairpins with aluminium hairpin and focuses on high torque density sustainable induction motor designs used as torque booster for dual-axle automotive applications. A performance comparison of the motor using aluminium and copper hairpins is conducted. The performance study focuses on maximizing torque, power and reducing active weight, as well as the environmental impact of the booster motor of the electric vehicle's electric drive unit. A thermal evaluation of the motor is conducted for 10-time repeated acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h. Due to the lower AC copper loss of the aluminium hairpin winding, the total stator resistive losses for both motors remain comparable to each other. The torque capability for both motors is almost identical. Due to the lower material density, the motor with aluminium hairpin winding becomes lighter and consequently with a higher torque density. aluminium has a significantly lower environmental load unit compared to copper, and it can be considered a sustainable material to be used in the winding of booster motors for the electric vehicle drive unit.