H3X has obtained an investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the venture arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation, to speed up the technological development and the marketing of revolutionary electric motors.
This latest funding brings the total raised by H3X to $9M, an investment that will be used to accelerate technology development and commercialization of H3X’s HPDM family of integrated motor drives and the scale-up of their new headquarters facility in Louisville, Colorado for production.
«At H3X, we are building integrated motor drives from 30kW to 3MW that are unparalleled in performance in terms of specific power (kW/kg) and efficiency. We are thrilled to have support from Lockheed Martin and are excited for the opportunity to work together and collaborate on next-generation defence technology using our motors», the witness by Jason Sylvestre, Co-Founder and CEO of H3X.
The investor has no doubts about his investment. «H3X is working on scaling transformative technologies that we believe have the potential to provide our customer with viable options for electrifying legacy, all-domain systems and components» is in fact what has affirmed Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures.
H3X has made advancements in several different areas that enable them to reach continuous specific powers of >10kW/kg and best-in-class efficiency. These areas include electromagnetics, material science, power electronics, additive manufacturing, motor control, and thermals. H3X has invested heavily in vertical integration and does design, manufacturing, and testing in-house at their headquarters in Louisville, Colorado.
H3X originally developed this technology to enable compelling fully-electric and hybrid-electric aircraft with excellent range and payload capacity while also significantly reducing noise and operational costs. “When you look at the power density and efficiency requirements that are needed for electrifying narrow-body jets, there really isn’t anything out there that is sufficient,” said Jason Sylvestre. “The Megawatt-class systems that you can buy today still use technology from the last century and are far too large, heavy, and inefficient to meet the demanding requirements of electric aviation.” Additionally, H3X has found that there are a number of other markets that can also benefit from their technology including defence, marine, specialized ground vehicles, and power generation.
H3X, new investments for the sustainable aviation
Elaphe and McLaren, together to develop a new electric motor
The Slovenian manufacturer of electric motors Elaphe and McLaren Applied have established a strategic partnership. The target is developing a propulsion group that combines the motors in Elaphe wheels and the vehicle control with inverter technology by McLaren Applied. Actually, Elaphe will use the 800-V silicon carbide IPG5 inverter by McLaren. Actually, Elaphe will use the IPG5 800-V inverter made of silicon carbide by McLaren. Partners affirm that their combined electric traction would offer notable space and weight saving to automotive companies, with vehicle’s low energy consumption and five-time faster torque response than existing systems, to be ascribed to the minor installation space of the transmission.
Current Elaphe motors in wheels show torque density up to 460 Nm/litre and 100 Nm/kg. At the same time, the company affirms that their motors will offer high control bandwidth of each wheel, allowing customers to define and to modify the drive character of their electric car through the software development.
Important step for the fast charge in Italy
Atlante, the company of Nhoa Group dedicated to the infrastructure of fast and ultra-fast charge for electric vehicles, stemmed from the collaboration among Stellantis, Nhoa and Free2move eSolutions, has today inaugurated in Magenta, in Milan province, its first Italian fast charge station in the Automagenta dealership of Stellantis network.
In collaboration with Stellantis, Atlante is proactively working with a large number of dealers in all Italy, to implement in their headquarters many other fast charge stations, all powered by green renewable energy. These stations will allow electric vehicle owners to experiment the fast charge comfort.
Atlante is continuing its course towards the development of the biggest fast and ultra-fast recharge network in South Europe, as privileged Stellantis fast charge network.
“Today we see the concrete result of the partnership with a prestigious player, Atlante, which aims at making available for all citizens fast and ultra-fast charge points in spaces located inside the network of Stellantis dealerships. In this case, the implementation was enabled by the collaboration with an important entrepreneurial reality on the territory, Automagenta dealership, which has understood and perfectly matched Stellantis mission. The energy transition cannot be performed in one day, it is a process that will take certain times, but initiatives of this kind give an important cutting edge to those undertaking them, versus the future scenario that will take place,” declared Ciro Papa, Manager of the e-Mobility Business Unit of Stellantis Italia.
In France as well, Atlante and Stellantis are working in the same direction and the first fast and ultra-fast charge points will be soon online by some selected dealerships that sell Stellantis vehicles.
The use of steel restarts. What role does the component chain play?
A recent event by siderweb has revealed that steel faces a first 2023-semester of slowdown versus 2022, whereas the second part of the year is expected to end with a positive sign. On the whole, user sectors’ activity is expected to rise by 1% in the current year. More in detail, a slight recession is expected for mechanical machines and tools (-0.4%) and metal products (-0.2%), whereas constructions will increase by 2.5%.
Among the various segments concerned, automotive has been more affected by crisis bites. «In the electrification process of the mean fleet, Italy lacks a suitable offer in the field of flat steel products», declared Gianfranco Tosini from siderweb.
The general director of Anfia, Gianmarco Giorda, instead stated: «A part of new components are increasingly in-house manufactured by producers. Big OEM are for instance producing electric motors, because they deal with the problem of how managing the manpower in excess. That is a further limitation to the activity diversification by companies that today manufacture for instance tanks and exhaust systems that will be no longer produced in the European Union, or at least it will be possible to make them just for export. We are certainly perceiving a lot of proactivity in the components’ chain in looking at other technologies connected with the electric car. In Italy, there are 2,200 automotive component enterprises; 4-500 are involved in the transition to electric. A vast part is looking at other solutions or at other sectors, such as aeronautics and railway».
Tesla, expansion in Nevada for its gigafactory
Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, where Semi electric truck and 4680 cells are produced, is further enlarged to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles and batteries. The plan provides for an investment worth 3.6 billion dollars and 3,000 employments, and for the creation of two new factories. One will work at the production of 100 GWh of 4680 cells, whereas the second will be dedicated to cars’ assembling.
It is one of the largest plants for Tesla and the batteries produced will be sufficient for 1.5 million electric cars yearly and will lead to the engagement of other 3,000 workers.
In the release that explains the expansion operation, Tesla declared they have invested 6.2 billion dollars in Nevada and they have recruited over 11,000 people.
Xtrac achieves various ESG accreditations
A company that intends to make the difference and to innovate should grant the sustainability on more fronts, from the environmental one to that concerning the work environment. As well known by Xtrac, UK’s award-winning high-performance automotive and motorsport transmission technology specialist, which in the last year has achieved three more important accreditations over the past 12 months. They include attaining the Environment, Social and Governance ESGMark, setting emissions reduction goals through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and recognition as a Real Living Wage Employer.
Adrian Moore, company’s chief executive explained: «Xtrac has a longstanding commitment to ESG matters with employee wellness at the heart of its operations, as measured by our high levels of staff retention. Looking after our employees helps us look after our worldwide customers and other stakeholders, ensuring that we remain at the pinnacle of our industry as it transitions from internal combustion engines to hybrid and electric vehicles. It also ensures that we maintain our exports of around 70 per cent annually to Australia, Asia, Europe, and the Americas».
The accreditation by SBTi explains the commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 42% within 2030, in compliance with the targets of the Agreement of Paris to maintain the global warming under 1.5°C. On the other hand, in the training ambit, Xtrac Academy is the feather in the cap of the company, which can rely on highly skilled technicians and professional engineers.
In the picture Freddie King (left), a first-year apprentice engineer, receives instruction on Okuma Space Turn LB300 CNC lathe from James O’Hagan, trainer and mentor.
The great operation of Comer Industries
The recent takeover of Benevelli Electric Powertrain Solutions and Sitem Motori Elettrici has been accomplished by Comer Industries, company listed at the Euronext Growth Milan segment of the Italian Stock Exchange and leader of a world Group in the design and production of advanced engineering systems and mechatronic solutions for power transmission.
What will happen? Benevelli and Sitem merge into e-comer, the new green division of Comer Industries dedicated to the market of motors and transmissions for electric vehicles. It is a NewCo into which the business branches of Benevelli Electric Powertrain Solutions and Sitem Motori Elettrici have resulted. Besides, electric motors are precisely the sector where Comer Industries is going to focus its growth and innovation course, enriching the product range offered to the market. The operation implied a cash-out at the closing date amounting to 50 million Euros.
Going back to a little over one year, it is clear that Comer’s strategy goes on: on December 1st the takeover operation of Walterscheid Powertrain Group ended, with the aim of offering more and more global services to customers, glancing at a sustainable future.
Today enthusiasm is greater than ever: «A year of growth, achievements and satisfactions. The wish to Comer Industries and all the companies of the Group is continuing towards this direction because only growing and improving every day we will make our future the longest and most prosperous possible, like General Sherman” as stated by the President & CEO Matteo Storchi.
Forvia, more strategic through AGV
One of the key weapons that an OEM has to grant more efficiency to its customers is an impeccable, fast and precise logistics. In this scenario, a piece of news comes from Forvia, reality stemmed from the takeover of Hella by Faurecia, and aiming at becoming one of primary players in world automotive components, with a soul split between original equipment and aftermarket.
Forvia has in fact increased the logistic productivity, strengthened the stability of manufacturing processes and reduced safety risks inside plants, implementing a fleet of 14 Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). Located in Faurecia Clean Mobility factory at Písek, in Czech Republic, 7 of them are AMR and have allowed Forvia to reach the ROI in less than two years.
AMR carry empty pallets to assembling lines and pick up full pallets from the logistic area. The second area, where operate instead MiR250 robots, is the one of component transport, from the warehouse to assembling lines. The robots in the factory work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, covering all three work shifts.
Before the project start, the logistics in workshop was mainly based on manual processes, forklifts and stackers, without any automation. The risk of accidents or professional illnesses was quite high, so the company decided automating the heaviest and most dangerous processes. The main goal was introducing a technology that increased the safety and the productivity level, too.
Roadmap 2023, Car and Mobility Observatory
The Car and Mobility Observatory of Luiss Business School, managed by prof. Fabio Orecchini of Guglielmo Marconi University and by prof. Luca Pirolo of Luiss University, has recently presented its activities, research lines and the Roadmap 2023, an opportunity in which UNRAE, National Union of Foreign Motor Vehicles Representative, has shown market data and prospects.
The research activity concerns also the identification of suitable energy strategies for the car and the mobility in Italy and in Europe, and has fixed its pillars in sustainability, energy safety, industrial development, socio-economic growth and market.
The Observatory’s research has unveiled what the Innovation words in the car and mobility sector are: CO2, Battery, Safety, Hybrid, EV, Mobility and Sustainability. CO2 turned out to be by far the most used term, with 41% of the contributions concerning thirty key words used for the analysis The most interesting technologies are related to electrification (Battery 13%, Hybrid 10% and EV 10%), but there is great interest also in safety (Safety 12%).
“The results of the first research about innovation words”, adds the professor, indicate the great interest by industrial players and public in the environmental and technological innovation issues. The fact that, against 2,703 tweets by automotive companies, more than 55,600 responses and retweets about innovation key terms have been generated demonstrates how these words are the core of the debate and must be attentively considered not only in commercial and marketing actions but also in policies and applicative actions deployed by administrative and government bodies”, Luca Pirolo explained.
“The establishment of a university study and research centre dedicated to car and mobility represents an important opportunity for the whole economic and industrial system connected with the sector”, commented professor Fabio Orecchini. “The Observatory relies on precious multidisciplinary competences to support the transformation in course in industry and in the role of the public administration in the mobility sector”.
Comer Industries enters the market of electric motors
Reality specialized in the design and manufacturing of advanced engineering systems and mechatronic solutions, Comer Industries enters the market of motors and transmissions for electric vehicles due to the full takeover of Benevelli Electric Powertrain Solutions and Sitem Motori Elettrici, specialized in the design, prototyping and manufacturing of transmissions and motors for electric vehicles.
The two realities taken over are deeply rooted into the Emilian territory and together they count 65 years of entrepreneurial history in the sector of motors and transmissions for electric vehicles.
Since their foundation, the enterprises have scored an important growth that is likely to last and to increase, due to the attractiveness of a market in strong expansion.
For Comer Industries, the takeover of Benevelli Electric Powertrain Solutions and Sitem Motori Elettrici pursues a double target: first of all, growing in a great expansion market, by enriching the range of offered products through investments in forefront sustainable technologies; secondly, preserving the value of the Italian excellence in the engineering industry.
The operation occurs precisely one year after the signature of the agreement for the 100% takeover of the German Walterscheid, among the top players in the sector of the industry of propulsion systems and services for Off-Highway and industrial applications.
“I am proud of announcing this operation that concerns two excellences in a strongly expanding market, like electric vehicles’” comments Matteo Storchi, President and Managing Director of Comer Industries. “Entering the market of motors and transmissions for electric vehicles means offering a complete range of products and technologies in constant evolution” Storchi adds.
Here are instead the words by Alberto Benevelli, Managing Director of Benevelli Electric Powertrain Solutions: “Becoming part of Comer Industries Group is a reason for great satisfaction for us. Investing in territory’s realities means preserving the value of the Italian character in the engineering sector to make our ranking further grow in the emerging sector of transmissions for electric vehicles.