▲Drive motor core production and sales plan (Image source: POSCO)
Hyundai Motor Confirms Supply of 2.72 Million Drive Motor Cores to New U.S. Electric Vehicle Plant
Synergy between POSCO Mobility Solutions’ technology and POSCO’s high-quality electrical steel sheets POSCO International is solidifying its position in the mobility industry by successfully securing large-scale orders for drive motor cores, including 2.72 million units for Hyundai Motor Company's new U.S. plant.
POSCO International announced on the 13th through an electronic disclosure that it had signed a contract with Hyundai Motor Group to supply a total of 3.53 million drive motor cores.
Through this contract, POSCO International will supply 1.09 million next-generation electric vehicle front-wheel drive motor cores and 1.63 million rear-wheel drive motor cores to Hyundai Motor Group’s new North American plant (HMGMA) from 2026 to 2034.
In addition, 810,000 Hyundai Motor Group domestically produced rear-wheel drive electric vehicle motor cores will be supplied from 2026 to 2036.
As a result, the contract for drive motor cores signed between POSCO International and Hyundai Motor Group from November 2022 to September 2023 amounts to a total of 10.38 million units, successfully leading the supply of drive motor cores for eco-friendly vehicles (electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles), including 3.4 million units for next-generation hybrid SUVs and 2.5 million units for flagship electric vehicles.
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▲POSCO Mobility Solutions’ drive motor core exhibited at H2 MEET 2023
The industry analyzed that the decisive factor in winning the order was the synergy created by POSCO's non-oriented electrical steel (Hyper NO), the main material for Motor Core, in addition to the proprietary technology and infrastructure of POSCO Mobility Solutions, a subsidiary of POSCO International.
Hyper Non-Oriented Electrical Steel is a product that significantly improves energy loss compared to existing electrical steel, and is produced only by POSCO in Korea.
POSCO Mobility Solutions' drive motor core is a core component of the motor made by stacking multiple sheets of punched electrical steel plates produced by POSCO, and is installed in most domestic electric vehicles, including the Hyundai Nexo, a hydrogen electric vehicle.
The drive motor core of electric and hydrogen electric vehicles is composed of a stator and a rotor.
▲Drive motor core sample (Photo source: POSCO)
The stator is a component that creates an electric magnetic field by winding copper wire. POSCO Mobility Solutions has secured excellent physical material properties, such as perpendicularity, through segmented rotation lamination.
The rotor is connected to the shaft and transmits rotational power. It is produced by inserting magnets into the core as parts and fixing the magnets through molding, and assembling parts such as shafts, plates, and bearings on an automatic line.
POSCO Mobility Solutions’ core motor core lamination technologies are △EMFree and △Self Bonding.
EMFree is an abbreviation for Embo-Free and is a technology developed by POSCO Mobility Solutions.
This technology is a method of adhesively bonding electrical steel sheets without embossing, welding, or riveting, and shows a 10% improvement in iron loss and a 15% or greater increase in magnetic flux density compared to the Embo type.
Self Bonding technology is effective in producing complex or small-sized cores, and is a next-generation technology that produces electrical steel plates by punching and bonding them in a press, followed by final bonding in a separate curing process.
POSCO International is also actively working to build a global production network to address trade barrier risks in electric vehicle markets such as the IRA in the US and CRMA in Europe, as well as to meet the local procurement needs of automakers.
The plan is to build an overseas production system for 5 million drive motor cores by 2030 in each continental base, including China, Mexico, Poland, and India.
Construction on a new plant in China with an annual production capacity of 900,000 units will begin in March 2022, and is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. The Mexican plant, scheduled to be completed next month, will have an annual production capacity of 1.5 million units, and plans are in place to target global eco-friendly car companies, including Hyundai Motor Group, as a North American production base.
Europe has chosen Poland as its production base and is reviewing potential factory sites with a target production capacity of 25 years.
A POSCO International official said, “This order directly supplies the drive motor core, a key component that makes up the drive motor, to the new overseas plant of Hyundai Motor Group, a leading company in the automobile market. He said, “This is very meaningful,” and expressed his ambition, saying, “We will continue to expand our influence in the global eco-friendly mobility market through collaboration between leading companies in Korea.”
