Market observability of the new energy driven motor industry

Date:2020-04-20 21:55:17

The drive motor is the core component of new energy vehicles. China has abundant rare earth resources, and the new energy vehicle industry is driven by policies like a spring breeze, allowing the drive motor industry to develop rapidly. Not only related to rare earth resources, but also market analysis and prediction of drive motors, as well as supplier matching relationships, are the most concerned issues for Gaishi Automotive Research Institute.

Like ordinary motors, new energy drive motors are mainly composed of three parts: stator, rotor, and mechanical structure. Due to the limited installation space, harsh working environment, and special reasons such as high vibration, impact, severe corrosion, high temperature and humidity, new energy drive motors need to have high density, small size, high power, high torque, reliability, durability, and low cost.

The key component stator is composed of stator core and stator winding, while the rotor is composed of rotor core and permanent magnet (permanent magnet motor) or rotor winding (AC asynchronous motor). The mechanical structure consists of bearings, end caps, and shells.
Electric vehicles have a long history. In 1831, Henry manufactured the first DC motor for early electric vehicles, and in 1889, the German AEG company manufactured the first AC three-phase asynchronous motor. Until the 1980s, the improvement of microelectronic control technology led to the promotion of AC motors. The development of permanent magnet materials and power electronics technology (motor control technology) has greatly promoted the application and promotion of related motors. AC three-phase asynchronous and permanent magnet synchronous motors are currently the mainstream products for large-scale applications.

Up to now, improving the power density of drive motors has become crucial, involving multiple levels and fields of technology such as materials and design. Only enterprises with corresponding research and development capabilities and technical reserves can succeed in the future.

The main types of motors currently on the market are AC asynchronous motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors. Permanent magnet synchronous motors occupy a large share of the domestic motor market due to their high efficiency, high power density, and small size, and are mainly used in the passenger car field.
Due to its lower cost and relatively simple structure, as well as mature control technology, AC asynchronous motors are widely used in new energy buses and some passenger cars. However, their large size and heavy weight have to some extent limited their widespread application.

The main advantages of switched reluctance motors are their simple and reliable structure, as well as low system cost. However, due to the drawbacks of large torque fluctuations, high noise, and system nonlinearity of switched reluctance motors, their current applications are still limited. Mainly used in the field of new energy buses.

Due to the abundant rare earth resources in China, permanent magnet synchronous motors have become a common driving motor for new energy vehicles. The key materials are magnetic materials and silicon steel sheets. The cost of electric motors mainly consists of manufacturing expenses, iron cores, permanent magnets, etc., among which the proportion of manufacturing expenses and iron cores is relatively high.

Neodymium iron boron is extracted from rare earth materials. Due to its high magnetic properties and cost-effectiveness, permanent magnet motors for automobiles generally use neodymium iron boron magnetic materials. With the growth of sales of new energy vehicles, the demand for neodymium iron boron magnetic materials has also increased.

Another important material is non oriented silicon steel (electrical steel with Si ≥ 0.5%), which is widely used in the manufacture of iron cores for various motors and electronic transformers. In recent years, with the continuous advancement of production technology, technological barriers are no longer the threshold that hinders steel mills, but have led to overcapacity, fierce competition, and price decline in silicon steel.

As for the development trend of new energy driven motors, reducing costs is the main focus of permanent magnet motors (requiring a 75% cost reduction). Research has found that motor design can reduce costs by 25% to 40%, while permanent magnet materials need to reduce costs by 75% to achieve the 2020 target. Improving the high-temperature working characteristics of permanent magnet materials can reduce costs by 5% to 15%.
At present, the global new energy vehicle drive motor market is divided into three parts: vehicle manufacturers, traditional automotive parts companies, and motor companies. Among them, professional motor companies occupy a large market share in the domestic new energy vehicle drive motor market. For example, Dayang Electric, CSR Times, Yunet, Shanghai Dajun, Jingjin Electric, etc.

From the data compiled by the research institute, we found that domestic independent car companies mostly adopt domestic motor companies; Joint venture and foreign-funded car companies generally choose foreign motor supporting enterprises, which have formed stable supporting facilities. For example, ZF provides motors for BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, and Land Rover, Magna provides motors for Volvo and Ford, and Dayang Electric provides motors for Dongfeng Motor, Brilliance Auto, Chery Automobile, SAIC Group, FAW Motor, Beiqi Foton, and others.

With the booming global new energy vehicle market, the market for new energy vehicle drive motors has also grown. According to predictions, the global market size for drive motors is expected to reach $4.4 billion by 2020.