Almost 1.2 million electric cars sold in the world in 2017, the most positive result ever obtained, and it is expected that such trend will be confirmed for 2018 with 2 million new electric cars on the market. In Italy, the technological maturity is the reference indicator that shows fewer criticalities, on the contrary the regulatory maturity is the area with more gaps.
The E-mobility Report 2018, developed by the Energy & Strategy Group of Milan Polytechnics, managed by Professor Vittorio Chiesa, has highlighted the state of the art of the electric vehicle market in Italy, Europe and in the rest of the world.
The world situation
In 2017, almost 1.2 million electric cars were sold in the world, over 1% of the total of new registrations and 57% more compared to the 750,000 units in 2016. It is the most positive result ever achieved and it is expected that such trend will be confirmed for 2018 with 2 million new electric cars on the market. With around 580,000 cars sold in 2017 and a 72% growth versus the previous year, China is the biggest world market, overcoming Europe that confirms to be second in the ranking with almost 290,000 sold units and scoring the 39% increment. United States follow with 200,000 (+27%) and Japan is at the fourth place with 56,000 cars and a noteworthy +155% compared to 2016.
Vittorio Chiesa, Energy & Strategy Group Manager of Milan Polytechnics
The e-mobility in Italy â specified Vittorio Chiesa â is not a market where the growth is missing. Absolute numbers are still small in comparison with other big European Countries but the sensation we can perceive among sector players is that the electric mobility is anything but an elitist fashion for lovers of sustainability and technology but it is instead becoming a fundamental component of the way of devising the transports of the future
In Europe
In European ambit, the first market is â indisputably â Norway, with 62,000 vehicles sold, that is to say the third Country by registrations after China and United States, but with a significant 39% out of the overall car sales inside the Country. Germany conquers the second position in the European market, with almost 55,000 registrations, over the double than in 2016 (+117%), also due to the direct incentive to purchase (4,000 Euros for a BEV, 3,000 Euros for a PHEV) and the exemption from the payment of the road tax for 10 years since the purchase time. Germans have surpassed the United Kingdom, which stopped at about 47,000 and +27%, third Country in Europe by registrations of electric vehicles (13% of the total) that offers a direct incentive amounting to 35% of the purchase cost, for a maximum of 5,100 Euros for a BEV and around 2,800 Euros for a PHEV, in addition to a reduction of yearly taxes. France follows with 37,000 and +26% and it directly incentives the purchase of an electric vehicle up to a maximum of 6,000 Euros, with a further incentive of 4,000 Euros for a BEV and 2,500 Euros for a PHEV if as replacement of a diesel vehicle with over 11 years of service life. These first four Countries attain 70% of the total in Europe.
Global sales of electric cars In 2017, for the first time it was exceeded one million of cars sold on a world scale, over 1% of overall new registrations. We expect that such positive trend is confirmed for 2018, at the end of which 2 million new electric cars are likely to be present on the marketSales by geographical area With around 580,000 cars sold in 2017 and a 72% growth versus the previous year, China is the biggest world market, overcoming Europe that confirms to be second in the ranking with almost 290,000 sold units and scoring the 39% increment
«In this ranking â explained Professor Vittorio Chiesa, director of the Energy Strategy Group of the Polytechnics â even if it has shown strong growth signs in 2017 and in 2018, Italy is still very behind and in 2017 it weighed by less than 2% in the European market of electric vehicles, against 13% of total registrations. The main hindrances connected with the take-off of the electric vehicle market are the high purchase cost of cars, the problems concerning the inadequacy of the recharge network and the limited autonomy».
In Italy
Italy is the third nation in Europe, preceded by Luxembourg and Malta, by number of per head vehicles. They have surveyed that there are over 7 vehicles every 10 inhabitants, one more than in France, Germany and UK, where this ratio is included between 5.8 and 5.9. Besides, the average age of a car of the fleet circulating in Italy is higher, with 10.7 years against 9 of France and Germany and 8.5 of the United Kingdom. In the light of these data, we can foresee a renewal that should lead to a significant adoption of electric vehicles. All that induces to think that in 2030 in Italy we might have 7.5 million circulating electric vehicles and a volume of investments amounting to 61 billion Euros.
Europe recharge points If we make a comparison between the recharge infrastructures in Italy and the rest of the Old Continent, the existing gap is evident, with a number of public charge points included betwween 10% and 20% compared to the 3 major European Countries
THE PRIMACY OF NORWAY
Norway stands out for being on the cutting edge in the electric mobility matter: in 2017, the new registrations of electric vehicles grazed 40% of the total. In the fiord Country, a particular regulation is in force to boost the purchase of electric cars: besides direct incentives, like the 25% reduction of VAT at the purchase time, and indirect ones, such as the free access, or at lower price, to parks and ferries, they have also applied the âpolluter paysâ principle. It is a disincentive to the purchase of conventional vehicles, precisely a sort of âpolluter paysâ, which results in higher yearly circulation taxes for more polluting vehicles. Thanks to such provision, in synergy with the farsighted policy of recharge infrastructures that aimed at installing 2 recharge stations every 50 km on any main road within 2017, Norway has been acknowledged as model worth following for its excellence transition towards the electric mobility.
Let us see anyway the data already registered: in the first semester of 2018, almost as many electric cars as in the entire previous year were registered, and the same âdoublingâ was scored between 2017 and 2016.However, the Italian marketâs size is small if compared with the global and the European market. In 2017, 4,827 electric cars were sold, 0.24% of overall registrations, thus achieving an approximate total of 13,000 units circulating in Italy at the end of the last year.
Out of 4,827 electric cars, 1,964 are full-electric, rising by almost 40% versus 2016. The remaining 2,863 are instead PHEV, 2.5 times compared to the registrations in 2016, surpassing BEV for the first time. In the first half of 2018, 4,129 electric cars were registered, +89% versus the same 2017 period and a number that approaches the entire year just past.
Europe registrations In European ambit, the first market is indisputably Norway, with 62,000 vehicles sold, Germany ranks second, with almost 55,000 registrations, followed by United Kingdom and France
«The e-mobility in Italy â specified Vittorio Chiesa â is not a market where the growth is missing. Certainly, absolute numbers are still small, slightly above the 4,000 vehicles in the last semester and also in relation to what is happening in the other big European Countries. The sensation we can perceive among sector players, however, is that the electric mobility is anything but an elitist fashion for lovers of sustainability and technology but it is instead becoming a fundamental component of the way of devising the transports of the future».
In the market of electric cars in Italy, the technological maturity is the reference indicator that shows fewer criticalities, the regulatory maturity is instead the area with more gaps. Incentives, if well proportioned, can act as enhancing instrument of the market competition whereas today in Italy they just regard the exemption of the road tax and the access to restricted traffic areas, with purchase incentives delivered on a regional scale only.
Infrastructures
At the end of 2017, in Italy it is possible to estimate about 2,750 public compliant recharge stations, grown in the course of the last year by around 750 units. This has resulted in the growth of the last years, drastically reversing a trend that instead had made the recharge units essentially stable from 2012 to 2014.
Moreover, it is worth pointing out a great ferment regarding new installations in the course of 2018, with partial data that indicate an even stronger growth than last year.
Detail of electric car sales in Italy In Italy, in 2017, 4,827 electric cars were sold, 0.24% of overall registrations, thus achieving slightly less than 13,000 units in all circulating in Italy at the end of the last year
It is worth underlining a strong unbalance of the geographical distribution of recharge units: there is a relevant shortage in the South whereas Centre and North are more advanced but with even remarkable differences among the various Regions.
If we make a comparison between the recharge infrastructures in Italy and the rest of the Old Continent, the existing gap is evident, with a number of public charge points included between 10% and 20% compared to the 3 major European Countries: a litmus paper of the size of the electric vehicle market.
A phenomenon that is living a vertiginous growth and promises relevant numbers. We will increasingly witness a cohabitation among the various propulsion modalities and an adaptation of the industrial system. What will be the repercussions for small and medium engineering companies that manufacture mechanical components for the big production sector of motors and of motion in general?
By Stefano Colletta, Technical Director of Subfornitura News-Tecniche Nuove
In the past, when motors were the conversation subject, it was almost unavoidable to think of a standard internal combustion engine, maybe of some old frames of some black and white movies. Today instead, speaking of motors from the industrial point of view certainly means referring to a constant process of technological innovation as well as to an increasingly green production and consumption methodology of goods. We take care of our health and of the one of our planet and we more and more tend to design and build a healthy environment.
The atmospheric pollution is one of the main causes of mortality and this phenomenon can be more surveyed in cities because in narrow spaces a higher concentration of CO2 persists. Therefore, we design fully âgreenâ houses and entire cities; an ecologic culture grows and, obviously, the entire automotive industry cannot get away from this phenomenon. As a matter of fact, Toyota, Nissan, Citroen, BMW, Mercedes, Kia, Opel, Fiat, Hyundai and Volkswagen, all of them have a selection of electric models in their portfolio. Volvo, for instance, has announced it is going to modify, starting from 2019, the entire production of electric cars. A phenomenon â the implementation of electric motors in the various industrial fields â that no longer concerns just cars. Today it is possible to drive electric bikes with more and more professional characteristics; motorbikes with exceptional performances, such as CRP or Harley Davidson; to navigate with Riva boats; to compete with an electric single-seater. But not only, the industrial world is gradually getting in touch with it, packaging, food processing machines, machine tools, all those fields where there is the need of doing actions through a motion inside the machine itself.
The implementation of electric motors in the various industrial fields will no longer concerns just cars. The industrial world is gradually getting in touch with it: packaging, food processing machines, machine tools, all those fields where there is the need of doing actions through a motion inside the machine itself
Rising matter, then, and with noteworthy numbers. Let us consider, for instance, once more the car world. Today 2 millions of electric cars are circulating whereas about 600 millions are expected in 2014, against, however, 1 billion of cars that will circulate still using the green petrol and diesel. We will witness a cohabitation among the various propulsion modalities â thermal, electric and hybrid â and an adaptation by the industrial system to what nowadays still seems a not mature system, however already steeply rising. What about small and medium engineering companies that produce mechanical components for the big production field of motors and of motion in general? What will be the repercussions on this manufacturing area? Certainly, we will no longer need certain components in the same quantities as today. Companies and subcontractors must and will have to seize the signs that will increasingly come from the market and from their customers, modify the supplied sectors and sometimes give up activities that have stopped being remunerative and demanded by the various manufacturing fields. New competence and specialization areas, specific training and new figures to be employed in companies will be necessary. Some entrepreneurial realities will look at electric motors with a critical attitude because they will have probably failed their own transformation but any novelty or change always generates new opportunities and it up to us reaping them. The future will be greener than today, complex, competitive and even more variegated, issuing new challenges for our engineering companies.
After 3 successful editions, AEIT Automotive 2019 Conference will be held on July 2nd-4th 2019 (at the Politecnico di Torino, headquarter of Lingotto) to host regular papers in several areas of the multiform automotive field.
The 4th AEIT International Conference of Electrical and Electronic Technologies for Automotive (AEIT Automotive 2019) aims to be a solid reference of the technical community to present and discuss the most recent results of scientific and technological research for the automotive industry, with particular emphasis to applications and new trends.
The Conference covers all aspects of the segment focusing on electrical vehicles, connected autonomous cars and related mobility. AEIT Automotive 2019 will bring together in an annual event, spread over 3 days, the Electrical and Electronic Automotive specialists with the Information and Communication Technology ones. The Steering and the Technical Program Committee include experts from the Academic world, Associations, Key Industrial Stakeholders and Regulatory Authorities.
AEIT Automotive 2019 will be structured in 3 days with Scientific Sessions, including both lectures and poster sessions, Key-note Speeches, Round tables and Panel discussions, covering current electric automotive scenario with its national and international perspectives, development trends and the regulatory framework.
Among the topics of the Special Sessions scheduled there are recent advances for e-mobility power components, wireless Charging for EVs, Automotive Lighting Systems, Laser based manufacturing technologies for automotive, Intra-and Inter-vehicle photonic networks for data transport and controlling and photonic and electronic sensins for automotive.
New IDTechEx report, âElectric Vehicles in China 2019-2029â shows that the penetration in China of electric buses is more impressive than electric cars. Like most other new products, electric vehicles sell in an S curve of a slow start with over supply. Then comes fastest growth with supply sometimes unable to keep up with demand then comes saturation. Take pure electric buses as an example. Here China rapidly deployed 400,000, 99% of the total number in the world, then it collapsed subsidies causing a collapse in deliveries and sadly it mainly makes smoking buses again.
The rest of the world is beginning to compensate. For example, recently Qbuzz in the Netherlands has ordered 159 pure electric buses, Helsingborg Sweden 76, Brussels Airport 30 and London 68 pure electric double deckers. Cities across the UK recently placed a total of 263 orders for zero-emission buses. Warsaw will order 130 pure electric buses for delivery by 2021. Kazakhstan is expecting 700 electric buses and Azerbaijan another 500 over the next three years. However, India has the largest potential, with a government plan for an initial 10,000 pure electric buses replacing some of the 1.6 million registered buses there, all of which must go, says the government, sensitive to the deaths they cause. The Indian state of Uttarakhand has ordered 500 electric buses. Now India is responsible for about 25% of the pure electric bus orders outside China. The Chinese â mainly BYD â are behind much of the supply but by no means all. Tata Motors in India has orders from six cities for a total of 255 pure electric buses. Large subsidies are an essential part of the take-off everywhere, China being at the top of the growth curve and everywhere else at the fast growth part, though China may see another S curve based on free market demands when pure electric has price parity.
Battery costs have been a primary impediment. However, in an interesting development, busy bus routes are seeing progress to less or no battery. Eight countries have ten-second charging supercapacitor large buses now and non-stop top-up charging in many forms has arrived from solar bodywork to intermittent catenary, rails, coils in the road. Top-up, including stationary forms with gantries etc at bus stops, typically leads to 80% less battery and this and the reduction in battery prices has led to some projections of the battery being a mere 6% of bus cost in ten yearsâ time. For more on all that see the IDTechEx Research report, âEnergy Storage for Electric Buses and Trucks 2019-2029â. That will hasten the day when the up-front price of pure-electric buses is at parity with diesel. The rising cost of diesel powertrains also helps. Consider the extra cost of diesel fume reduction measures such as 48V mild hybridisation and the cost of adding equipment to treat emissions. IDTechEx currently projects price parity around 2030 for large buses but the future can come early.
This zero-emissions plane is expected to make a run for the record books with a target speed of 300+ MPH (480+ KMH). The 24ft-wide carbon-fibre aeroplane is being constructed by a 20-man team led by Rolls-Royce at a hangar the Staverton site.
The company hopes the plane will hit a world-beating top speed of more than 300mph when it takes to the skies over the UK in the first half of next year. The current record is 213mph, it was set last year by German-built Extra Aircraft 330LD, powered by a Siemens electric motor.
Inside a bustling hangar bay at the far end of Gloucestershire airport in South West England, a team of British engineers, designers, and data specialists recruited from across Rolls-Royce and beyond have set out to make history. Theyâre building a high-performance electric aeroplane unlike anything the world has ever seen. Scheduled to take to the skies over Great Britain in 2020, the aircraft will reach a speed of 300 mph â and quite likely more â making it the fastest all-electric plane in history.
This run for the record books is no stunt. Itâs part of a Rolls-Royce initiative called ACCEL â short for âAccelerating the Electrification of Flightâ â thatâs intended to pioneer a third wave of aviation in support of Rolls-Royceâs strategy to champion electrification.
Last March 30th closed the experience for Formula SAE Italy (FSAE Italy) at MECSPE (Fiere di Parma, 28-30/03), the meeting point between technologies to produce and industrial supply chains, thanks to the sinergy among the 12 fairs which happen at the same time. The three days in Parma represented an important halfway point on the way to the official event scheduled on July from 24th to 28th at âRiccardo Palettiâ racetrack in Varano deâ Melegari, when Formula SAE Italy (www.formula-ata.it/) will welcome 100 universities teams from all over the world (33 with an electric car, 52 with a combustion car, 10 with a driverless car and 5 for class 3, with the project only, without car) which challenge each others in the designing and in the realization of a racing prototype.
The ANFIA-Formula SAE stand during the exhibition hosted three FSAE Italian teams and their cars: UniPR Racing Team of the University of Parma with their combustion car, Squadra Corse PoliTo of the Polytechnic University of Torino with their electric car, both of them will be part of the official event in July â and MoRe Modena Racing team of the University Modena e Reggio Emilia with their combustion car. The ANFIA-Formula SAE stand also included a space dedicated to Dallara â one of the historical sponsors of the event together with FCA â which hosted a FIA Formula 2 (F2) car and organized few conferences in the neighboring workshop area. âThe participation of FSAE Italy at MECSPE gave to the teams the chance to get in contact with some potential sponsors, to explain to the innovation technologies used to build the cars and it gave to ANFIA the chance to let the exhibition learn about this event which stands out the designing abilities but also the management and the team working of the young automotive engineering â says Gianmarco Giorda, Director of ANFIA. MECSPE experience contributes to put in contact two world which are still pretty distance but connected, like the Universityâs world and the companies oneâ.
Simultaneously with the most annoying design event of the year, the Milan Design Week, which tooked place from 9th to 14th April, featured the first edition of BluE eMobility Days, six days of events and debates dedicated to electric mobility and its evolution. Thus, smart mobility has attracted worldwide interest with âSalone del Mobileâ, âFuorisaloneâ and Design Week, a strategic choice to represent, in perspective, a model of world excellence in the transition to widespread and sustainable mobility. There is therefore a great link between design appeal and sustainable mobility. Another example is the initiative of Repower, a global group active in the energy sector and player in electric mobility, with the LAMBROgio and LAMBROgino cargobikes, designed by Makio Hasuike.
The light three-wheeled and assisted pedal vehicles characterized by aesthetic pleasantness and great comfort, astonished the visitors of the FuoriSalone, as well as the benches hi-tech E-LOUNGE for recharging bikes and other devices, located inside Piazza Castello.
What proposal of products and technological support for the electric motor world in automotive and/or appliance ambit?
World reference reality in the production of high-speed presses, automations and complete systems for the sheet metal forming, AIDA, for several time now, has already invested part of its research capability in the development of specific solutions for the production of electric motors. Today the fruit of this activity allows the company to offer two product lines fully dedicated to rolling: AIDA HMX Series and AIDA MSP Series.
Michele Archenti, Sales and Marketing Manager AIDA Europe
âThey are productsâ confirms Michele Archenti, Sales and Marketing Manager AIDA Europe â the market already highly appreciates. To the extent that we can boast hundreds of installations in leader playersâ production plantsâ.
AIDA MSP presses (Multi-Suspension Points Presses) allow producing high precision and high efficiency motors such as EV motors, HEV motors and energy-efficient home appliances motors.
Executions that are highly suitable for the production of parts characterized by thicknesses under 0.2 mm.
âSuch presses â adds Archenti â stand out for notable dynamic precision, due to both the compact design, to the architecture consisting in in-line multi-suspension points, to the native Aim function (i.e. Adjust In Motion) and finally to the balance reached between the high stiffness and the wide plan surface. Indispensable prerogative, the latter, to house tools with the number of stages needed for the production of high-efficiency motorsâ.
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Specialized in the design and in the production of electromagnetic and electronic components, Bluergo implements smart technologies for the development of innovative solutions customized according to single requirements. A range of products that go from stator coils to laminated and electronic transformers, from solenoid valves to tachometer coils, from motor injectors to electromagnets for servomechanisms, from antennas to ferrite wound components.
âProductions â specifies Andrea Cusinato, Sales Department â intended for the sector of the Home Appliance, of white and brown goods, as well as for the automotive industry. We can supply complete packages for the latter, in particular, perfectly suiting our customersâ requisites. Concerning this, we can offer an all-round service that goes from the technical feasibility analysis to the co-design and virtual prototyping activity, from the fast-sampling to the design and implementation of mass-production equipmentâ.
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Paolo Caviggioli, project manager of BTSR International
BTSR International operates in the design and manufacturing of electronic sensors for the quality control in the manufacturing chains of clothing-textile, mechano-textile and technical textile, besides operating for years also with solutions for the testing of metal wires (copper and precious metals).
âAmbit, the latter â confirms the project manager, Paolo Caviggioli â that has allowed further increasing our presence in the automotive market. With high-tech solutions, which include electronic sensors and smart systems, aimed at satisfying the most different requirements in the monitoring of wire sliding, of feeding tension control and of all major quality parameters of all kinds of wires: traditional wires, elastomers, glass fibers and carbon fibersâ.
Among them, stands out the new patented CWF 2000, specific high-tech system, that is to say an innovative solution that redefines the state-of-the-art in the wire feeding technology, likely to have a significant impact in the sector of metal coil winding. Available in two versions (CWF2000 to work on machines with double-winding and coil and CWF2000 HCL for needle machines and needle winding machines), if finds applications in several sectors, such as producers of ignition coils for automotive, of solenoids, of transformers, of relays, of stator and rotor windings for household appliance motors.
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Giordano Sorci, managing director of Cagnoni Srl
The activity of Cagnoni Srl includes three different manufacturing ambits, among which the production of electric commutators and the cold blanking of metal sheets. The latter results in the production of high-precision components made of iron, stainless steel, copper, brass aluminum and bronze, which find applications in industrial sectors, like the prevailing automotive and household appliances.
«Our product, that is the electric commutator â explains the managing director Giordano Sorci, at the head of the company together with his brother Ignazio â has always been focused on the requirements of the automotive and appliance world. Our process has been calibrated to meet the more and more severe requirements of these two sectors. Our customersâ trend is oriented to the reduction of the footprints and weights of the electric motor. Therefore, our range, which is focused on small high-performance commutators, perfectly matches this need».
Moreover, the companyâs structure and organization avail themselves of engineers who interface with customersâ research and development teams and, together, they study alternative solutions to optimize more and more both costs and performances of the finished product. An unceasing research of technological solutions, materials and automations, which then allow Cagnoni to keep pace with times constantly and to deal with marketsâ severe requirements.
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Dema is specialized in the design and production of tailor-made automated lines intended for the manufacturing of rotors and stators for electric motors. Highly performing and reliable technologies to carry out sorting, packing, inspection and assembling processes. A context where it holds a protagonist role, side by side with leader manufacturers in the development of more and more challenging projects.
âToday more than in the past â states the owner, the engineer Cesare Librici â we are focusing our attention on the development of solutions dedicated to inspectioning, i.e. the complete geometrical, dimensional and optical-visual control of rotor and stator stacks produced, before they are used in other phases of the manufacturing process. This to satisfy more and more preponderant requirements in the production ambit of electric Powertrain, with total traceability of processed components. As if often happens, the automotive sector is pioneer, like in this case of process innovation. However, by technological transposition and transfer, the same can find applications also in other fields, like for instance appliancesâ.
In this context, the know-how and the deep competences gained in various operational ambits allow the company to study and to develop tailored, performing and reliable manufacturing lines and machines.
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Demak produces plants for the degassing, meter-mixing and dispensing of epoxy, polyurethane, silicon resins, and several other types of resins. Moreover, the company can supply customers with the suitable resins for their processes and productions, through the sister company S.E. Special Engines Srl, formulating and producing chemical company.
Massimiliano Balboni, Technical Sales Manager of Demak Group
âDemak Group â underlines Massimiliano Balboni, Technical Sales Manager of Demak Group â approaches then the automotive EV/HEV market as supplier of plants and resins for the encapsulation of electric traction motors and other electric-electronic components. Every day the protection and the rise of performances of the electric motor becomes more important and here the use of the vacuum encapsulation technology becomes fundamental. In fact, with the choice of a suitable resin, it is possible to grant an important heat dissipation of the motor and higher resistance to collisions, vibrations, chemical agents, water, dust, and other external agentsâ.
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EuroGroup Laminations is Holding of the Italian engineering group, world reference reality in the production of magnetic blanked laminations for stators and rotors of electric motors and generators. A Group today composed by 7 manufacturing units in Italy and other 5 in Mexico, United States, Tunisia, Russia and China. The Group is at the service of several sectors, like automotive, which provides the major boost of developments oriented to an epochal turning point towards the electrical car.
âIn this surveyâ states Sergio Iori, president of EuroGroup â our Group plays an important role, offering more and more efficient stators/rotors for electric motors to the market. Efficiency that, in the specific case of electric vehicles, results in more autonomy of car driving distanceâ.
Sergio Iori, President of EuroGroup
In the stator/rotor, this needs not only a use of steels with increasingly high magnetic and permeability features but also thicknesses that from standard 0.5-0.65 mm decrease to 0.30-0.20 mm (and someone already uses 0.10 mm), besides stricter geometrical tolerances owing to heat and noise reduction reasons.
âOur response/offer to the marketâ adds Iori â provides for several solutions: progressive blanking dies able to process these new materials, assuring the final characteristics demanded; assembling systems of single stator/rotor laminations; accessory operations on the motor, like magnet and shaft insertion and successive machining and balancingâ.
In particular, the assembling systems of single stator/rotor laminations provide for various solutions: gluing (Glue Fastec); packing (Corpack/Zip) during the blanking with compensation by rotation of laminations, even with 0.20 mm thickness (granting a stacking-factor in line with the motor requirements); welding of stator/ rotor through laser/Tig/Mig technology.
âIn line with the requisites of Industry 4.0 â adds Iori â we can assure the total traceability of our whole production. All that in compliance with quality procedures established by IATF regulationsâ.
This industrial approach is adopted by EuroGroup also for stators/rotors for the Home Appliances sector, to the end of a constant technical improvement, aimed at increasing the efficiencies of the electric motor for this type of applications.
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GROB-WERKE is a family-run enterprise operating on international scale and headquartered in the Swabian-Bavarian town of Mindelheim, with a product catalogue that ranges from the universal machining centre to the complex manufacturing system provided with automation, from assembling units in the stock removal machining up to fully automated assembling plants.
Christian Grob, Supervisory Board Chairman of GROB-WERKE
âOur company â specifies Christian Grob, Supervisory Board Chairman of GROB-WERKE â is one of the few machine tool manufacturers in the world fully oriented to electro-mobility requirements. Our range of machines can accomplish the entire production process of an electric motor, from the various phases of wire winding and shaping to the assembling and contact. One of the main processes in the production of an electric motor is the phase of copper wire winding inside the stator. In this ambit, Grob can make available all known technologies, including the wave winding, the hairpin winding process and the fan-coil technology. Grob Italy S.r.l. can also put at disposal winding/insertion solutions, as well as the needle technologyâ.
In short, this means that Grob provides the market with all available manufacturing processes for the electric motors demanded by the automotive industry.
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Alessandro Rocchi, sales manager of Inarca
Inarca is a company that makes research its main asset, then applied to the design and production of terminals, connectors, technologies and machines for electric connections.
âReading it â comments the sales manager Alessandro Rocchi â it seems a stock phrase but the innovation that derives from intense research activities is actually the main competitive edge that has allowed us, along the years, an almost constant growth. Besides, it is also the primary factor that permits us to compete on apparently difficult markets, since characterized by much lower pure labour costsâ.
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After the recent celebrations of the 25th anniversary of activity, Piciesse starts the new year with a heritage of experience and internationalism in the world of printed circuit boards. Almost 50% of its turnover comes from the automotive industry, inside of which stand out the apt qualitative policies for constant improvement and updating, in certification ambit, too (see VDA 6.3), and for promoting the constant technological upgrade.
Enzo Montani, partner and member of Piciesse Board of Directors
âPower circuits â specifies Enzo Montani, partner and member of the Board of Directors, together with Claudia Marinelli and Gian Marco Baldiniâ can represent a valid proposal by Piciesse to the electric motor world. Such market is increasingly connected with this typology of circuits, whose materials, granting the heat dissipation, reach high copper thicknesses, i.e. from 105 to 400 ”m, and they often allow connections to further heatsinks. The result? An increased and better heat management. Currently, the means prevailingly equipped with this typology of PCB are machines for handling, warehouse management or displacements of goods, such as forklifts, tow hooks, cranes and so on. They are defined power circuits because they can withstand and manage a bigger passage of electric current, with a higher voltage/current product able to create, precisely, more powerâ.
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Risatti Instruments produces systems for the trial and testing of electric equipment. âThe company â explains the owner Rodolfo Risatti â has operated in the specific market for over seventy years and every year it goes on investing in research and development to grant innovative forefront testing systems, in conformity with Industry 4.0 law, tooâ.
Rodolfo Risatti, owner of Risatti Instruments
Precisely due to this characteristic, the company goes on operating worldwide. Specialized also in the automotive sector, today it can meet customersâ single requirements, supporting them in each phase of the testing process (which encompasses also scooters and electric bicycles) like for instance: control of magnetic losses of both stator and rotor iron, of already assembled stacks; complete stator testing, including the measurement of partial discharges and the ohmic resistance, in alternate, at various frequencies; testing of the die-casting of both aluminium and copper rotor.
âThey concern â adds Risatti â also systems and solutions for the testing of the finished motor, both as only motor and provided with reduction gear and differential gear, both in production and in laboratory, with detection of all characteristics of torque, revolutions and efficiency. Last but not least, also the instruments for lab tests and the systems for testing the service life of batteries, with setup of programmed charge and discharge cyclesâ.
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Samac, since 1975 specialized in the engineering and manufacturing of machines and plants for the automation of assembling and testing processes, for some years has been focusing its investments on R&D and marketing, in market ambits concerning electrified components and under electrification. This action has aroused the interest in the company by the major world players of the automotive industry, and not only. Electric brushless motors for steering systems (EPS) and for car fans, including stators and rotors, brushed electric motors for the motion of car seats and roof, tubular motors for the shutter movement are only some of the products assembled and tested on Samac plants in the last 5 years. The company has applied for years important Industry 4.0 concepts on the manufactured plants, such as predictive maintenance, interconnection with managerial systems and other machines, self-adaptivity of operational units, use of augmented reality for maintenance and assistance, plant control from remote, with the use of cloud technology, too.
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TE Connectivity is a technology company that designs and manufactures connectivity and sensor products for harsh environments in a variety of industries, including automotive, appliances, data and devicesâ industrial, energy and medical.
Ugo Aime, Product Manager Appliances in TE
âWe also offer a wide choice of products â specifies Ugo Aime, Product Manager in TE Connectivity â for applications in electric motors, transformers, inductors, electromagnets, coils and other devices with enameled wire windings. A high value derives from offering âfull packageâ solutions such as terminal + plastic cavity + assembly, to ensure a significant cost reduction, together with higher efficiency and reliabilityâ.
The âInsulation Displacement Connectionâ (IDC) / Crimp technology is a valid alternative to the welding process for enameled wire termination; this process is still used by majority of the market for electric motor connections.
âConnections with IDC/Crimp technology â Aime emphasizes â offer several advantages, including, for example, the absence of chemicals and high temperatures/power. Oxides and possible contamination risks are eliminated, providing a clean contact surface and a stable, gas-tight electrical connection. Another strength is the increased flexibility, since it is possible to terminate not only copper wires, but also aluminum and combinations of copper and aluminum wiresâ.
TE Connectivity is also offering different termination machines, that provide high reliability with minimal wire preparation. Additionally, many TE Connectivity machines have an automatic precision adjustment functionality, i.e. âCrimp Quality MonitorâCQM), to ensure maximum quality during the production process.
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Zoppas Industries Heating Element Technologies, operating in over 200 markets in heating systems, considers the evolution of the automotive market in electric vehicles as a strategic opportunity to offer its âknow-howâ, gained in over 55 years of experience, in the thermal management of both batteries and of the entire car interior. At the state-of-the-art, the company is developing solutions of heating and maintenance of the correct operation temperature of batteries through both âdirect heatingâ, then the applications of heating sheets directly in contact with cells, and with âindirectâ proposals, like the introduction of conditioning circuits for fluid solutions and heat exchangers. Referring to the car interior, both âboosterâ solutions for heat pumps and air heating systems are available.
This is Part 2 of a three-part article
Read Part 1: Focus: electric motor, current and future scenarios
Read Part 3: Future scenarios and technological trends
The language of the future is increasingly âelectric-orientedâ, not only in automotive but also in appliance ambit and in the most different applicative sectors. Ferment that involves the entire manufacturing chain, with companies committed to providing innovation that keeps pace with a more and more challenging and competitive market. What is their product and service proposal, and their point of view on possible evolutions?
Increasingly spread in all application types, electric motors find all-round use due to their well-known peculiarities and operational technical specifications. In this context, undoubted protagonists and big users are, among the others, the automotive and the household appliance industry. Sectors that benefit from a complex manufacturing chain that must keep pace with technological innovation to be able to provide solutions in a more and more complex and competitive market. Manufacturing companies that, according to their specialization, supply components, machining lines and plants, besides support and consulting of absolute technical level. We have interviewed some of them. A representative panel (without the presumption of being exhaustive on the topic) to highlight their proposal of competences and solutions, besides trying to outline the possible future scenarios and trends.
After outlining the product and support proposal for the electric motor world in automotive and/or appliance ambit, we have asked interviewed companies their point of view on possible future scenarios/technological trends.
âThe most felt requirements in the sheet metal forming market, especially for the automotive sectorâ highlights Michele Archenti, Sales and Marketing Manager AIDA Europe â are, and will increasingly be, more control and more automation of manufacturing processes. The revolution called Industry 4.0, aimed at boosting innovation in industrial field, mainly focuses on the theme of the integration and the connection of industrial machines to the corporate net. Concerning this, the most important novelty at which we are working, concerns the use of Machine Learning algorithms to offer advanced preventive maintenance solutions able to help us in preserving the most important good of each customer: manufacturing continuityâ.
Precisely according to this vision, AIDA group has already developed and implemented its complete solution for the data processing (through cloud computing): AiCARE (AIDA Information Care System). It can provide advanced information about the production and maintenance state of each single press, such as, just to make an example, manufacturing data, data on energy consumptions, on the oil quality or the operational temperature, or data regarding the use degree of each single element that composes the press.
âThe AiCARE systemâ adds Archenti â has been conceived to be integrated on all of our press typologies but, at the same time, it can be seen as an external device to be implemented on already installed pressesâ.
Therefore, it is a solution âthat can be retrofittedâ on the machine fleet already installed. Not only AIDA presses are concerned but the installation is possible also on other manufacturersâ presses.
Concerning possible future trends and scenarios, Bluergo thinks that the electric motor evolution as traction, in automotive ambit, will have its course, with times a bit delayed compared to what imaginable just some years ago. Owing to different reasons, as Andrea Cusinato, Sales Department Bluergo, specified: âWithout prejudice to the environmental and performance benefits, there are some criticalities and difficulties not completely solved, I think. I am referring, for instance, to an infrastructure and to a grid energy not ready to transpose âbig numbersâ. Likewise, the vehicle cost for end-users, even if constantly adapted, unfortunately does not seem affordable for todayâs users of small subcompacts, yet. In other words, times are not mature for a mass diffusion, yet. From our point of view, we believe instead the petrol/methane, diesel/methane conversion technology is more within reachâ.
In the last biennium, the company has been very active and committed to the latter context, with the supply of tailored electromagnetic components. âIf, instead, with electric motor â specifies Cusinato â we mean not only the traction, it is indisputable it is in constant evolution. Especially if we refer to brushless motors, which nowadays represent the almost totality of motions and drives equipping a carâ.
Bluergo has been committed to this ambit for years and it is investing huge resources in it. A strongly growing market that, today, absorbs a significant percentage of the corporate production.
âReferring to the Home Appliance sector â adds Cusinato â it is following the same evolutionary course, with the replacement of standard single-phase motors with brushless technology. However, also in this case the cost aspect hinders its mass diffusionâ.
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Cagnoni confirms the electric motor world is living a constant growth in the automotive and appliance sectors.
âNevertheless â specifies the managing director Giordano Sorci â the brushless motor is rapidly spreading, widening applicative opportunities. Today, also for this reason, our customers, I would say about 10% of them, are diversifying productions by introducing the brushless technology, too. However, not all sectors can avail themselves of these typologies, therefore I believe the conventional brushed motor still has several decades of career in frontâ.
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Automation is increasingly shifting towards motors produced in smaller yearly quantities. This is the point of view of Demathat, by voice of the owner Mr Cesare Librici, confirms how such datum influences the technological requisites demanded for its plants.
âIf previously â states the engineer Librici â typically one of our automated machines was required by one of our customers that had productions of 500,000, one million of parts yearly, today we have dropped by one order of magnitude. This means the demand for the part of our competence is oriented towards a fully automatic process. And no longer semi-automatic or even manual. This interpretation concerns both the automotive and the industrial world. More complex is instead interpreting trends and scenarios for the appliance industry that, still according to our point of view, does not seem to show particular interest in investments in new products todayâ.
Clear and precise also the vision of Demak about possible future scenarios/technological trends where the electric motor will be the protagonist.
âCertainly electrification â states the Technical Sales Manager, Massimiliano Balboni â already in course for some years, will become a âvitalâ and decisive step for all OEMs and for the whole chain. Especially, however, for companies that will mandatorily need to integrate into their manufacturing cycle technologies with zero or minimal impact on the environment. Therefore, it is undoubted that companies themselves, besides investing in R&D activities for the development of electric traction with more autonomy, will be also requested to provide for investing in âEco-Friendlyâ technologies, which can grant, at the same time, excellent-level performances of the electric motor and of other componentsâ.
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The future of automotive is electric. Sergio Iori, president of EuroGroup, has no doubt.
âThe automotive industryâ he affirms â is getting ready for the increment of the demand for electric vehicles. We cannot establish with certain responses, yet, whether and when the car with thermal motor will end, whether and how much the hybrid traction will still develop. However, it is certain the activity that today concerns the productive developments of electric vehicles is, according to many, a real Tsunami and, anyway, an epochal turning pointâ.
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Christian Grob, Supervisory Board Chairman of GROB-WERKE, underlines how it is important to remind the e-mobility is still a relatively new concept for the automotive field.
âAll market playersâ he declares â must adapt their approach. Working in strict collaboration with primary sector brands, it was immediately clear that there was a big need of mass production installations in the automotive industry, with particular attention to key components, that is to say the electric motor and battery components. Currently, designs are created and developed only through a strict consulting with the automotive industry. Even if markets are reacting to this with different speeds, Grob sales have already suited new technologies worldwideâ.
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Wide, efficacious and detailed is the reflection expressed by Inarca on possible future scenarios/technological trends, implemented in automotive and appliance ambit.
âIn automotive ambit â highlights the sale manager Alessandro Rocchi â the increasingly extended demand for components managed by electronics makes the need of connecting mechanical parts to boards or circuits more and more frequent. This will lead to an ever-rising diffusion of the mechanical cold junction, much more efficient than welding, due to both the minor problems in junction phase and the possibility of replacing parts quickly. Consequently, the market trend is favourable for us, since we have invested for years in Crimp and IDC technologies, where today we can say we are technological leaders. Moreover, the more and more diffused presence of aluminium, instead of copper, as material used for electric motorsâ windings works for us, as we have developed for years more and more efficient solutions for applications of this kindâ.
Referring to the appliance world, Rocchi points out that the technological evolution of the household appliance sector determines an increasingly massive presence of electronics, which exponentially increases the number of connections for each single device and produces more and more complex geometries.
âThe successive step â he adds â will be the massive diffusion of iOt, internet of things, which will further boost this phenomenon».
In this context, Inarca proposes itself as technological reference partner: for years, in fact, it has developed a line of specific solutions for the mechanical cold junction (both Crimp and IDC), which allow utmost efficiency in application phase.
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In the opinion of Enzo Montani from Piciesse, certainly last yearsâ data highlight a strong growth of the innovative mobility and motion: âBeyond the mobility in the strict sense â he addsâ the sector dedicated to the terrestrial motion and to the introduction and refinement of more and more technological and attentive means is increasingly protagonist. We are referring to trains for electrified lines, to hybrid/electric cars, to e-bikes, to electric scooters, to segways and to hoverboards. Besides, aware of facing a more and more diffused electric production, probably the need of developing smart flexible grids, able to manage peaks and to distribute energy safely, will rise. This will highlight the importance of the so-called smart grids and will gradually require efficient and complete management and communication systems of grids themselvesâ.
More and more refined technology for more efficient and safer systems. This is the synthesis by Rodolfo Risatti, owner of Risatti Instruments: âWe believe â he affirms â in the future, technology can nothing but refine and reach specialized levels that will grant more efficient and safer systems. According to this perspective, we daresay the technologized automated drive will be used on all transport meansâ.
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The point of view of Samac reveals how the next evolution, already partly in course, will reside in the shift from electrification to electronification. A step that, for the company, will make the critical components of complex systems – like for instance the motor in a car but also an electric axis in machines â become independent in the management of their operation and maintenance parameters.
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TE Connectivity estimates that trends and possible scenarios for the future are oriented towards an increased usage of aluminum wires.
Ugo Aime, Product Manager, explains and concludes: âWhere there are no particular problems with the space for the components, more competitive solutions which are cheaper and lighter will be availableâ.
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Concerning future trends and scenarios, Zoppas Industries Heating Element Technologies highlights a first big discriminant among hybrid, plug-in and full-electric vehicles. Moreover, car typologies will be subdivided by autonomy range and by market target, luxury and performances, too. The companyâs hypothesis envisages a more and more fragmented market, to meet the manifold requirements that, in combination with the new trends of Megacities and of connectivity, will be defined by end-users. Concerning heating, the macro-typologies that Zoppas Industries Heating Element Technologies glimpses in the next future are the following: air heating for small cars for city-urban use; heating through fluid circuit loops for the cars of the average range; heating by heat pump for âpremiumâ cars; heating through radiant surfaces as possible long-term evolution in the car interior.
