Much has been made of the algorithmic advances in storage battery technology in recent years, but there’s another way to create quantum efficiency improvements — rethink the device which consumes the battery’s energy. A brilliant Texas father and son team formulated the Hunstable Energy Turbine (HET) and did just that (2min 33sec):
Every aspect of the common electric motor as we know it today went under scrutiny. Just one example — multiple rotors inside a single housing. What’s a rotor?
A windmill has a rotor, and this VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) has lots of them (12). Each one adds weight, but each one of them delivers slightly more power to the vehicle than it detracts by its own added weight. Still, this scenario could be more efficient — maybe we could somehow include more rotors within the motor casing itself? Linear Labs took the Hunstable’s idea and did just that by incorporating four rotors in the motor casing. And that was just the start (1min 58sec):
- Twice the torque density, three times the power density, and a minimum of 10% more range
- The coil is surrounded on all sides with magnetic material of the same polarity, which improves efficiency by preventing elements of the motor from “fighting” itself
- All magnetic fields are created in the direction of motion which also improves efficiency
- All copper in the coils is involved in energy conversion, which means less copper is needed
- Lorentz and reluctance forces are created and peak at the same time throughout the transit, so they work together
- As mentioned, four rotors are tantamount to actually having four motors in one
A design such as this is dependant upon high precision guidance electronics, which can respond to the microsecond timing necessary for optimization and the prevention of motor stall-out. It’s so efficient, it can even tax its own digital circuitry. Why is this motor revolutionary?
- No need for DC to DC converters. It’s an adaptable device.
- It obviates the need for heavy, expensive and wasteful gearboxes. Speed changes are more than adequately handled by a combination of power management and circuitry.
- 10% — and perhaps as much as 20%! — more range means that a smaller, lighter storage battery can accomplish the same thing as the larger battery needed in a conventional vehicle
- Unheard-of 90% efficiency
This radical electric motor redesign has been met with wide universal acceptance. The numerous and overwhelming advantages are so apparent that it’s a technology which is far beyond the 20th century motor technology in current use today. Advanced motor innovation such as this can also mean that widespread adoption of electric vehicle technology can come about much sooner due to its greater inherent simplicity. Brad Hunstable is the recipient of the 2017 The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business Entrepreneur and Innovation Alumni Award.
There is every indication that the HET will henceforth serve as the foundation for all major electric motors. There is a high likelihood that the Linear Labs HET will be the motor of the world. It’s a good time to be alive.