Post by
SIMPLICITI1 on Sep 13, 2024 6:10am
Competition from a Major Supplier to OEMS
EXRO's Coil Driver now has competition from Vitesco, which is soon to be merged with Schaeffler Group.
Vitesco has put together a motor/inverter combination that achieves similar benefits to that of the Coil Driver. They provide 2 connections for each of the three phases (total of 6) to achieve similar torque and power benefits claimed by the Coil Driver. They manage this using only two switches in their inverter as well. Their inverter also enables enables a boost condition to allow a 400 Volt system to charge 800 volt battery pack.
It appears to me at least then that the Vitesco approach removes the need to develop 800 Volt inverters (Coil Drivers) at least for this purpose.
On the face of it, this appears to be a is a simpler, less expensive approach than the coil driver that uses 12 connectors and more switches.
This is now in market and used by KIA in their EV-9 product.
Munro Live has a video out that explains the product combination.
I've reached out to EXRO and heard at least preliminarily that the Vitesco approach does not infringe on any EXRO patents. I have no idea how that is possible.....
EXRO (read ERIC) needs to speak to this sooner rather than later.
This is a good news bad news story and in part explains why the Coil Driver platform is taking so long to get to market.
Vitesco had to create a new motor/inverter combination to achieve these results. EXRO is doing the same thing in that each motor from each partner needs to be modified to deliver the benefits. I have no idea if Vitesco has plans to integrate their inverter with motors from other manufacturers.
KIA/Hyundai recognize the benefits and cost savings, other OEMs will now need to react to stay competitive. Time will tell if the Coil Driver and its multiple iterations and motor partners deliver OEMs a competitive solution.