The motor shown in Lucid's animated illustration is not axial flux but given the performance and size I have long wondered if the illustration was misdirection. Lucid plays its cards fairly close to its chest.
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Lucid Technology
Lucid has said little about the technology of the Air motors but, due to their very high power density, my brother had begun to suspect that they might be an axial flux design. The less efficient radial flux design dominates in EV applications, but there have been some indications that EV manufacturers were starting to look at axial flux designs for EVs, particularly with the growing interest in hub motors. As far as we could find, though, none had not made it to market.
We had both pored over the exploded view of the drive unit on the Lucid website and concluded, based on visible geometry, that they were the more conventional radial flux design. But there were still some aspects of the motor's performance that seemed to comport more with an axial design.
"Car & Driver" just published a review of the Dream claiming that Lucid does, in fact, use axial flux motors:
www.caranddriver.com
The relevant passage is:
"The axial-flux front and rear motors are identical, and each weighs a mere 163 pounds. They're a big part of how Lucid managed to get S-class space into a car with a 116.5-inch wheelbase . . . ."
(The article also answered a question that has been the subject of speculation on the Lucid forums: each of the 22 battery modules weighs 51.8 pounds, for a total of 1140 pounds of battery pack.)
We had both pored over the exploded view of the drive unit on the Lucid website and concluded, based on visible geometry, that they were the more conventional radial flux design. But there were still some aspects of the motor's performance that seemed to comport more with an axial design.
"Car & Driver" just published a review of the Dream claiming that Lucid does, in fact, use axial flux motors:
2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Turns It Up to 1111
For its first trick, Lucid pulls an impressive 1111-hp electric sedan out of thin air.
www.caranddriver.com
The relevant passage is:
"The axial-flux front and rear motors are identical, and each weighs a mere 163 pounds. They're a big part of how Lucid managed to get S-class space into a car with a 116.5-inch wheelbase . . . ."
(The article also answered a question that has been the subject of speculation on the Lucid forums: each of the 22 battery modules weighs 51.8 pounds, for a total of 1140 pounds of battery pack.)
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Good points on the 900V system. It sounds more like it’s an advantage that represents progress in EV engineering.
Peter Rawlinson had mentioned in a video a few months that Lucid eventually intends to market its technology to OEMs. If that includes the motor, I hope that eventually we will get full details of how they’ve achieved efficiencies no one else has been capable of.
Actually, on that note, Aptera claims to get 10 miles per kWH for a maximum of 1000 miles on a 100kWH battery pack and says its efficiencies are mainly due to aerodynamics with a drag coefficient of 0.13. So, motor efficiency helps but aerodynamics plays a larger role?
While looking into axial flux motors, I saw that Mercedes had acquired YASA, an axial flux motor start-up. The efficiency race is on.
By the way, I know a guy who has a flux capacitor in his DeLorean. It requires 1.21GW to activate though.
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Peter Rawlinson had mentioned in a video a few months that Lucid eventually intends to market its technology to OEMs. If that includes the motor, I hope that eventually we will get full details of how they’ve achieved efficiencies no one else has been capable of.
Actually, on that note, Aptera claims to get 10 miles per kWH for a maximum of 1000 miles on a 100kWH battery pack and says its efficiencies are mainly due to aerodynamics with a drag coefficient of 0.13. So, motor efficiency helps but aerodynamics plays a larger role?
While looking into axial flux motors, I saw that Mercedes had acquired YASA, an axial flux motor start-up. The efficiency race is on.
By the way, I know a guy who has a flux capacitor in his DeLorean. It requires 1.21GW to activate though.
Motor Trend published this drill-down on Lucid's powertrain. No mention of axial flux motors here.
www.motortrend.com
The 2022 Lucid Air's Stunning EV Powertrain Tech Is Why It's So Far Beyond the Competition
Your move, Tesla. And, well, everyone else.
Well, that about settles it. Great article.Motor Trend published this drill-down on Lucid's powertrain. No mention of axial flux motors here.
The 2022 Lucid Air's Stunning EV Powertrain Tech Is Why It's So Far Beyond the Competition
Your move, Tesla. And, well, everyone else.
Personally I was hoping Lucid would use Aeonflux motors
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