Load bearing “could”.
But if they get the combination of cost and manufacturability right, their motor has the potential to become a go-to low-cost power plant for countless applications.
Great if it they make it work reliability.
I don’t know why more cars don’t use the Lucid EV motors, they are small and powerful
Looks like an interesting motor type. I knew it existed, because I have built some axial generators, but I didn’t know this motor type was hard to control.
If rare earths or magnets should become a problem which manufacturers have to deal with, there’s two more options:
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induction motors (downside: there is a “breakdown torque” above which the field will totally slip out of control instead of lagging and producing torque)
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switched reluctance motors (downside: fancier motor controllers are needed)
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It would be surprising if the motors wouldn’t be more powerful with more powerful magnets. They make curved neodynium magnets. Seems like a fundraising angle, but performance will speak for itself.
By using a greater mass of magnets, placed farther out on the spinning plates, and spinning those plates at a higher speed than is typical, Conifer has managed to use weaker iron-based magnets
The article mentions that these particular iron-based magnets are weaker, but I wonder if they could use iron nitride magnets, which are apparently on par with rare neodymium magnets.
