Sona Comstar signs pact with Canada-based Enedym to produce magnet-less EV motors

Auto parts maker Sona Comstar on Wednesday said it has formed a strategic partnership with Canada-based Enedym Inc to produce magnet-less electric vehicles motors in India.

Enedym develops next generation switched reluctance motors (SRMs), electric propulsion, and electrified powertrains.

Under the agreement, the two parties will develop SRM drive platforms for Indian road and usage conditions targeting electric three-wheelers and high-performance motorcycles (having 10kW or greater nominal power) and e-4-wheelers for cargo delivery (having 20kW or greater nominal power), Sona Comstar said in a release.

In addition, the Canadian firm will license its SRM technologies to Sona Comstar for manufacturing drive motors, controllers, and drivetrains for the target applications exclusively in India, the company said.

The serial production of these systems is likely to commence in 2023, it said.

''We are excited to announce our collaboration with Enedym, whose novel switched reluctance motors with advanced acoustic noise control will help us offer high-efficiency and high-performance magnet-less motors to our customers,'' said Kiran M Deshmukh, Group CTO of Sona Comstar.

Enedym has developed novel families of next-generation SRMs with improved efficiencies, power density, and performance for varied applications, as per the release.

By taking the permanent magnets out, Enedym's novel SRMs have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of propulsion motors besides offering significant additional advantages, it said.

Electric three-wheelers are leading the transition to EVs in India, as the segment achieved over 14 per cent share in the overall three-wheelers sales in FY21, the company said.

The catalyst of this fast adoption is the expansion in the supply chain infrastructure by e-commerce and logistic providers, coupled with growth in eCommerce and consumer demand, it stated.

We believe the shift towards sustainable mobility will continue in the first and the last-mile, given lower operating costs and growth in e-commerce, thereby, creating a potentially large market for electric drivetrains, Sona Comstar said.

''This collaboration will effectively bridge the gap between supplying next generation SRM motor technologies by Enedym, which require no rare earth metals, reduce cost significantly through advanced digitization, and achieve class leading performance, with a trusted and highly capable partner, Sona Comstar, to supply highly engineered automotive systems and components to OEMs,'' said Ali Emadi, Founder, President, and CEO, Enedym.

Electric three-wheelers are at the forefront of the vehicle electrification transition in India and, therefore, “our combined efforts will have a significant impact both in terms of sustainability, efficiency, cost reduction, and performance improvements,” he said.

Stating that the partnership opens doors for the company to the inventions developed by Emadi and his research group Deshmukh said, “this is yet another step towards offering environmentally sustainable and cost-effective solutions to drive faster adoption of electric mobility in India and globally.'' PTI IAS DRR