ARPA-E project to advance electric vehicle machine manufacturing

Faculty at The Ohio State University College of Engineering have earned U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding to lead research that could fundamentally transform the design and manufacturing processes of electric machines for electrified vehicles.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) recently announced $175 million for 68 projects aimed at developing disruptive technologies to strengthen the nation’s advanced energy enterprise. These high-impact, high-risk technologies support novel approaches to clean energy challenges. The selected projects span 22 states and are coordinated at universities, national laboratories and private companies.

Ohio State will receive more than $2.4 million to fund its project titled “Vehicle Traction Electric Machines Enabled by Novel Composite Magnetic Powder Material and Electrophoretic Deposition Insulation Material.”

Julia Zhang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE), leads Ohio State’s collaboration with General Electric (GE) Global Research and Ford Motor Company on the three-year initiative. Co-leads include ECE Professor Jin Wang and Anthony Luscher, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

The project’s promise relies on two innovative magnetic and insulation materials. GE Research will develop the new materials, build lab-size coupons and measure the material performance, and build a full-size machine stator using these two new materials. Ohio State and Ford will design, build and test a traction machine prototype using the new materials. Ford and GE will then lead the commercialization of the technologies.

A novel composite magnetic powder (CMP) material with high bulk resistivity, permeability, saturation flux density and low coercivity will be developed and used to build the electric machine cores.

“We hope the new materials will help us improve torque density by 40 percent, leading to significant advancements in creating smaller and lighter machines than ever before,” Zhang said.

Furthermore, additive manufacturing and advanced powder metallurgy technology could significantly reduce materials and energy consumption in the machine core manufacturing process.

Zhang said the goal is to advance electric machine technologies for a wide range of industry applications, including electrified vehicles, renewable energy generation, energy storage and general purpose industrial variable speed drives. If successful, the project could revolutionize the design concept and manufacturing of the entire electric machine industry.

The Ohio State team operates within the Center for High Performance Power Electronics, which is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment dedicated to cutting-edge research and development work in electric machines and power electronics. Zhang has extensive experience in design, modeling and control of electric machines and drives, including time in control engineering with Ford. Wang possesses 20 years of leadership experience on electric drives and power electronics. Luscher’s academic research and teaching has focused on engineering design and manufacture.

“Universities, companies, and our national labs are doubling down on advancing clean energy technology innovation and manufacturing in America to deliver critical energy solutions from renewables to fusion energy to tackle the climate crisis,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE’s investments show our commitment to empowering innovators to develop bold plans to help America achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, create clean energy good-paying jobs and strengthen our energy independence.”

The project will support two Ph.D. students and two undergraduate students for three years.

"We are inviting talented undergraduate students who are interested in electric machine and power electronics technologies to join us on this endeavor," Zhang said.