Linear Labs announced July 28 that it will begin mass producing its high-torque M200 e-mobility motor for off-the-shelf use starting this September, making what it said was a “milestone” for the Fort Worth company.
“We’re entering Phase 2 of the company’s production plans based on extremely high customer demand,” said Brad Hunstable, founder and chief executive officer of Linear Labs. “We’ve been building our motors for corporate clients to fit their custom needs for 10 months, and now it’s time to make our technology available to everyone.
“We’ll be producing a plug-and-play motor that can be manufactured at lower volumes without extensive commitment, and people will easily be able to use it for e-scooters, golf carts, e-bikes, autonomous robots or any other last-mile application. It’s with great pride I say that we’ll begin fulfilling deliveries as early as Sept. 15 to anyone who wants to harness the power of HET (Hunstable Electric Turbine) inside their application.”
The M200 will initially be available in low-voltage ranges from 36-60 VDC providing up to 140Nm peak torque at up to 5,000 RPM. Higher voltages will be available upon request.
The M200 motor is so torque dense that four Linear Labs M200 motors in a four-wheeled vehicle can provide more peak torque than a 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S engine. This is achieved by a smaller distributed electric powertrain with a combined quad-motor volume of just over four liters, the company said in a news release.
The announcement follows a $68.9 million economic incentive deal with the City of Fort Worth to bring advance automation manufacturing to the rapidly growing home of Energy 2.0.
The company said it will start with an allocation of production that is distributed between itself and several Tier One sub-contractors in order to expedite the manufacturing ramp rate and delivery of motors to early customers.
Linear Labs is expecting to manufacture and deliver at least 100,000 M200 motors by the end of 2021. The M200 motor and controller are designed and manufactured in the United States.
The company said the entirely new class of electric motors produces up to twice the torque of competitor motors, or provides the same torque in half the size, and can be made using rare-earth or ferrite magnets. Its high torque and high efficiency extend range, battery life and increases performance, propelling e-bikes and e-scooters up steeper inclines for longer periods of time.
The M200 is also the first open drip-proof motor with an integrated controller able to work underwater for marine applications.
“Because of our unique ‘Magnetic Tunnel’ design with dual axial flux and dual radial flux rotors, the HET is four motors working as one, which provides around twice the average efficiency across the full speed range while making twice the torque of all of our competition in this market,” said Michael Van Steenburg, Vice President of Technology with Linear Labs. “This technological breakthrough has as big of an impact on minimizing global energy consumption as any major battery breakthrough could have.”
The company said the mass-production decision followed recent success with white-label manufacturing for corporate customers in the automotive, HVAC and premium efficiency industrial motor industries.
Pricing will be confirmed based on customer specific order quantities and features, the company said.
More information: https://linearlabsinc.com/m200-smart-motor-for-micro-mobility
– FWBP Staff