In Germany, Ford with other partners has created a consortium to develop next-generation electric motors, to study new production processes.
The research project is called HaPiPro 2 and its target is developing new base products and processes that will play a protagonist role in the mass-production of components for electric vehicles, exploiting flexible, scalable and efficient methods.
The name HaPiPro 2 refers to the pin technology used in the wire winding inside electric motor groups: the Hairpin technology is a key innovation area in electric drive systems and the research will study precisely how to exploit its potential to allow the efficient manufacturing of several electric motor variants on a single production line.
The consortium includes, besides Ford, Thyssenkrupp System Engineering, Rwth and Engiro departments of 3D printing and product engineering of the University of Aachen, and electric motor experts.
The new research centre will be hosted inside Ford factory in Koln -Niehl, in Germany, “a unique advanced engineering platform for all companies, to research and to assess the future of electric motor manufacturing processes», as Gunnar Herrmann, executive President of Ford in Germany, described.
