HELV MODE — ON

A high-performance electric motor of the American company Buddha Energy Inc. patenting around the world. It is noteworthy that the author of the electric motor is Russian. In the US, motors are sold with the HELV Motors brand name. The company does not report about the start of motors sales in Russia, but according to unofficial information, electric motors will become available in Q2 2021. The HELV Motors electric motor is designed in the form of a ball or sphere in such a way that the total area of the stator magnetic field interacts with the total area of the magnetic rotor. With such layout of fields, the project team achieved a shaft torque of 80 Nm, with a frequency of 3,700 rpm at 6 kW motor power on the test motors with a diameter of 119 mm weighing 2.5 kg.

The stators of synchronous and asynchronous electric motors are made of stacked plates of thin iron isolated from each other. This reduces the effects of Foucault currents on the stator metal. These stray currents severely heat the motor stator if the stator is cast from solid metal. Buddha Energy Inc., took a different path and made the HELV Motors electric motor stator housing from composites which made it possible to lighten the electric motor and eliminate the effects of Foucault’s currents. The stator composite can be easily molded, but the company does not use expensive metal processing equipment. Due to this, Buddha Energy Inc. will further reduce the cost of finished electric motors.

After talking with the HELV Motors developers, it became clear how the idea of developing a spherical electric motor was born. It is hard to simulate the exact interaction of magnetic fields in space, including inside composites. The project team took a different path and tested magnetic interactions in practice. For this purpose, they printed a laboratory stand on a 3D printer to check the interaction of the rotor and stator magnetic fields. A photo of the stand was published in the company’s account on Instagram. After testing more than a dozen stator windings, an option was found that held the rotor better than others. The rest was a matter of engineering. The HELV Motors ball-shaped motor is built on this principle.

The company claims that a 60 kW motor will weigh not more than 9.7 kg at a diameter of not more than 22 centimeters. Such characteristics will allow installing the motor on electric vehicles, electric cars, boats, electric motorcycles, and quadrocopters. In 2019, the company said that the top configuration engine speed is 30,000 rpm at a voltage of 400 V, and the peak power of the electric motor in the product line is 95 kW.

The market for electric motors is growing rapidly in the twenty-first century due to the popularity and environmental friendliness of electric vehicles, electric scooters, industrial quadrocopters, and other electric machines. As of late 2019, there are more than 400 electric vehicle manufacturers in the domestic market of China alone. According to a new report by Grand View Research Inc., the global market for electric motors will reach $214.5 billion by 2025. New electric motor technologies come to the market — this breakthrough makes electric transport affordable.