OCTOPUS (Optimised Components, Test and simulatiOn, toolkits for Powertrains which integrate Ultra high-speed motor Solutions
Aug 7, 2020
A three-year research project aims to deliver a break-through in e-axle electric powertrains. Led by Bentley Motors, the project will be delivered in partnership with Innovate UK and nine-partners, including Diamond.
Diamond scientists will be working with Bentley Motors on a three-year research study that promises to transform electric vehicle powertrains.
The project will utilise a fully integrated, free from rare-earth magnet e-axle that supports electric vehicle architectures. This reinforces Bentley’s ambition to lead sustainable luxury mobility and introduce the first fully electric Bentley by 2026.
Diamond will be contributing to this ground-breaking project by performing imaging using the unique Joint Engineering, Environment and Processing (JEEP) beamline (I12). I12 will image the motor at full speed to measure the temperature changes using diffraction in the rotor and stator parts of the motor, as the performance is pushed the temperature in the motor increases.
The study, titled OCTOPUS (Optimised Components, Test and simulatiOn, toolkits for Powertrains which integrate Ultra high-speed motor Solutions), follows an initial 18-month investigation that delivered a technological breakthrough in electric drive systems for high-performance vehicles.
Stefan Fischer, Director of Powertrain Engineering at Bentley Motors, said:
We have made no secret of our ambition to lead the way in the delivery of sustainable luxury mobility, Beyond100. We have a clear roadmap to offer a hybrid option for every model by 2023, starting with the Bentayga Hybrid, and our next goal moves towards a fully electric Bentley by 2026.
However today, there remains challenges and package constraints on the viability and flexibility of electric vehicle powertrains that are able to fully support EV architectures. With the industry, technologies and cars changing faster than ever before, research projects such as OCTOPUS are crucial to deliver innovative technologies and overcome challenges for the next generation of mobility solutions.
OCTOPUS will take this leading-edge motor, power electronics and packaging transmission design, adding next generation materials, manufacturing processes, simulation and test cycles to deliver a full e-axle powertrain with unique levels of integration and revolutionary performance characteristics suitable for real world application by 2026.
OCTOPUS is an OLEV funded project delivered in partnership with Innovate UK which brings together the following partners with distinct roles and responsibilities:
- Bentley Motors – Specification setting, vehicle integration plan and system test
- Advanced Electric Machines Ltd – Motor manufacturing and systems assembly
- Advanced Electric Machines Research Ltd – Motor and transmission design
- The Thinking Pod Innovations Ltd & Nottingham University – Power electronics optimisation and alternative wide band gap system design
- The Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) at the University of Bath – Integrated system analysis and proof of concept validation testing
- HiETA Technologies Ltd – AM component design and manufacture for thermal management including stator core housing, power electronics and E-axle oil cooling
- FD Sims Ltd – Next generation wire technology development
- Talga Technologies Ltd – 2D materials development for next generation winding technologies
- Diamond Light Source – UK’s national synchrotron light source providing access to X-ray facilities for measurements
- Hartree Centre (Science and Technology Facilities Council) – Advanced system testing and co-simulation toolkit development
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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