“As electric vehicles develop, the number of motors in the E-powertrain increases from one to two, and from two to four, and the number of inverters to control the motors also increases, increasing the complexity of the internal automotive system. Therefore, resolving the system complexity due to the increase in the number of motors and controllers has emerged as an important task.”

On the 18th, the Korea Automobile Research Institute (President Jin Jong-wook) held the 17th Jasan Eobo event at the COEX Startup Branch with the theme of 'E-Powertrain | Finding the power to accelerate future mobility in the heart of future cars.'

On this day, Professor Lim Myeong-seop of Hanyang University gave a presentation on the topic of ‘E-Powertrain, a solution for a sustainable future.’

Professor Lim Myeong-seop emphasized that in the structure of electric vehicles, motors are being used instead of engines, and assemblies that integrate the transmission and gears are appearing.

Companies like Rivian are researching putting motors inside the wheels and say they want to switch to high-voltage systems to increase charging efficiency.

He also mentioned the types of motors and multi-motor systems that major automakers are currently researching.

Through various motor combinations such as dual motor, tri motor, and quad motor.He is developing a high-performance vehicle and emphasized the importance of the combination of motor and inverter controller.

Professor Lim explained that multi-motor systems play a big role in improving the power performance and efficiency of a vehicle, and he mentioned various combinations such as the method of placing motors on the front and rear axles respectively in a dual-motor system, and the method of placing two motors on the main drive shaft in a tri-motor system.

It was also revealed that research is underway on high-performance vehicles using tri-motor and quad-motor systems.

He also emphasized the combination of motor and inverter controller, stating that one inverter should be installed per motor, and that this can increase the performance of the powertrain. He mentioned that theoretically, it can increase by 1.7 times or 1.5 times or more.

However, he advised that if one inverter is used per motor, the complexity of the control to control the system will increase, and that much research will be needed on how to coordinate the combination of motors, such as cost.

He noted that research is particularly needed in electrical systems rather than mechanical systems.