British company develops lighter, lower-cost electric motor by replacing copper windings with aluminum

The British company Ricardo replaced copper windings with aluminum coils in an electric motor, which resulted in a lighter propeller with a final cost that fits in the pocket of most consumers.

From the first idea to create electric cars and other vehicles that could be electrified, until today, the focus is the same. There are several efforts made to develop electric cars that are increasingly efficient, and therefore, the focus is on the part that gives power to the car: the batteries. Even with batteries still being the center of attention, there are many other areas that could be explored, with the aim of making technological progress with the efficiency of electric cars. In addition, there is also the issue of recycling this engine, which, made of aluminum, will be much easier to recycle at the end of its life cycle, and can also be reused in other sectors. The use of aluminum windings instead of copper also makes the motor cheaper and much lighter for the vehicle.

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Electric motor development process with aluminum bearings

The British company Ricardo is responsible for the development of an electric motor with aluminum windings, intended for compact electric cars. Without a doubt, this is great news, since the windings of conventional electric motors are generally made of copper, whereas aluminum is used only in the manufacture of induction motor rods.

Lightweight, efficient and a low-cost propulsion

There are many advantages to this efficient engine – and low cost, mainly because aluminum is much lighter than copper. Even though aluminum has about 30% less conductivity and there is a need to make slightly larger windings, it is a good alternative to reduce mass as much as possible. Also, when it comes to efficiency, aluminum and copper are neck and neck.

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In more modern high power propulsion systems, copper has high losses, unlike aluminum in alternating current. And it loses even more in direct current, but the windings manufactured with the two metals, as a whole, do not have great differences. However, aluminum has a much better heat capacity than copper, and can handle a higher power before it overheats.

The use of aluminum in the manufacture of engines is linked to an economic, environmental and sustainability issue.

Not only from technical characteristics aluminum is formed. Due to the fact that aluminum is much more common in nature than copper, it is also easier to extract, and the combination of these two characteristics is key to making it much cheaper.

Finally, aluminum is easier to recycle, unlike copper, which when there is an attempt to recover it, the probability of contamination is high, so there is a need for a much more complex and very expensive process to allow its reuse in other applications. With the new light, efficient and low-cost motor, made of aluminum windings, it will be much easier to recycle when its useful life cycle comes to an end.