The ReFreeDrive project developed rare earth-free electric motor technologies for automotive applications. It involved 13 partners across 6 European countries. The project aimed to design and manufacture 8 different e-motors, including induction machines with copper rotors and synchronous reluctance machines. Prototypes were tested on benches and a demo vehicle. The rare earth-free motors achieved performance targets and showed significant cost reductions compared to rare-earth PM motors. A life cycle assessment also found the rare earth-free motors had a lower environmental impact. The project generated knowledge that can be further developed for both academic and commercial purposes, with the motor technologies promising opportunities in the growing electric vehicle market.

1. 16 Apr 2021 1
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
1
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
16 Apr 2021
Rare earth free e-drives
featuring low
manufacturing cost
Alicia Rodriguez
Cidaut (Project Coordinator)
ReFreeDrive project summary
– joint final GV04 cluster event –

2. 16 Apr 2021 2
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Overview
Title: Rare earth free e-Drives featuring low-cost manufacturing
Acronym: ReFreeDrive
Grant Agreement No: 770143
Topic: GV-04-2017
• Goal: avoid the use of rare earth magnets through the development of a
next generation of scalable electric drivetrains
EU Project in Horizon2020
ReFreeDrive project runtime: Oct 2017 – Mar 2021*
*(…extended due to Covid-19 caused issues)

3. 16 Apr 2021 3
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Overview
13 partners, 6 European countries
OEM
Validation
Project
coordination
Power
electronics
Vehicle
integration &
testing
Copper
Steel
Motor Design &
Manufacturing

4. 16 Apr 2021 4
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Overview
Why rare earth elements free solutions?
Environment & LCA
Cost
Supply risk
Market uncertainties

5. 16 Apr 2021 5
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Overview
• The main aim of this project is to develop rare earth‐free traction
technologies
Project Objectives
INDUSTRIAL
FEASIBILITY
MASS
PRODUCTION
LOWER
COSTS
• Material selection
• Manufacturing processes
• Design optimisation
• Scalability

6. 16 Apr 2021 6
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Overview
ProjectTechnologies: we will design & manufacture
8 different e-motors for electrical powertrains
Induction machines
with copper rotor
Fabricated
Die Cast
Synchronous
reluctance machines
PMassisted
Without PM
75kW and 200kW
8
motors

7. 16 Apr 2021 7
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
Prototypes Manufacturing
Two variants of Copper Rotor for the Induction Motor
Die-Cast Copper Rotor Fabricated Copper Rotor
Breuckmann´s Laminar
Squeeze Casting Video

8. 16 Apr 2021 8
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
Prototypes Manufacturing
Induction Motor using Hairpin StatorWinding
The two ReFreeDrive induction motor prototypes are using innovative HairpinWinding in the Stator

9. 16 Apr 2021 9
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
Prototypes Manufacturing
Two variants of Synchronous Reluctance Motors
Pure Synchronous
Reluctance Motor
Ferrite assisted Synchronous
Reluctance Motor

10. 16 Apr 2021 10
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
Prototypes Manufacturing
Manufacturing Power Electronics based on SiCTechnology

11. 16 Apr 2021 11
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Objectives
Target figures
30% INCREASE
SPECIFIC TORQUE
50% MOTOR
LOSSES REDUCTION
15% COST
REDUCTION
50% INCREASE
OF POWER DENSITY IN
POWER ELECTRONICS

12. 16 Apr 2021 12
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Objectives
• Both Induction Motor and SynRel machine are nowadays under evaluation
as alternative solutions for mass production in automotive applications, as
both show good performance based on low-cost materials and eliminate
the supply risks associated with critical rare earth materials
• Targets:
Suitable alternatives for e-machines
KPI unit
Ref
TESLA 60S
ReFreeDrive Goals Comments
200kW
Specific power kW/kg 3.31 > 4.3 Peak value, active
parts only
Power density kW/l - > 8.0
Specific torque Nm/kg 6.3 > 8.2
Torque density Nm/l - > 15.4
Weight kg 68 < 44.6 active parts only
Efficiency % 92% 96% Peak value

13. 16 Apr 2021 13
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Motor Achievements
Simulated Performance Data
Torque vs Speed efficiency map of 200kW
Motor variant Induction Ferrite SynRel Pure SynRel
DC-link voltage 720 V 720 V 720 V
Max. modulation 0.98 0.98 0.98
Max. current 500 Arms 636 Arms 636 Arms
Required inv. kVA 430 kVA 550 kVA 550 kVA
Peak torque 380 Nm 470 Nm 415 Nm
Maximum speed 20,000 rpm 18,000 rpm 18,000 rpm
Gear ratio 13.55 12.19 12.19
Peak overall power 300 kW 250 kW 290 kW
Peak power
@nmax
150 kW 90 kW 80 kW
Peak Efficiency >95% 97% 96%

14. 16 Apr 2021 14
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
Prototypes Testing
Testing on Benches
University of L’Aquila
functional test
IFPEN Motor & PE
Test Bench
Cidaut System
Test Bench

15. 16 Apr 2021 15
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Motor Achievements
Test Performance Data
efficiency maps of 200kW (but 75kW for IM due
to software calibration issues)
Parameter
Induction Motor
(Die-Cast Rotor)
200kW
Ferrite SynRel
200kW
Pure SynRel 200kW
Peak torque [Nm] 306 363.9 305.7
Peak power [kW] 214.6
174.8
(magnet issues)
218.3
Power at max
speed [kW]
127.9 57 58.7
Motor peak
efficiency [%]
92.7 (software
issues)
96.3 96
System eff. on
driving cycle [%]
79.2 (software
issues)
89.8 87.6
Parameter Power Electronics goals
ReFreeDrive PE
achievements
Specific Power [kW/kg] 13.7 20
Power density [kW/liter] 12.9 27
Efficiency [%] 98-99 99.2
Good achievements of all targets with the 200kW ReFreeDrive Power Electronics (Inverter)

16. 16 Apr 2021 16
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
Prototypes Testing
Testing on a demoVehicle (75kW prototypes on LCV)
PrivéVehicle integrated testing

17. 16 Apr 2021 17
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Motor Achievements
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Environmental Impact comparison of REFREEDRIVE motors against
current automotive electric motor (NdFeB permanent magnets SynRel)
200kW SynRel
200kW Induction
57% 50% 99%
56% 52% 94%
“Cradle-to-gate” approach

18. 16 Apr 2021 18
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Motor Achievements
Techno-Economic Assessment
All ReFreeDrive motors show significant
lower production costs compared to
benchmark Tesla Model S induction motor,
and to rare-earth PM
SynRel
PMSynRel
Induction cast
Induction built
Rare-earth PM
200,0
250,0
300,0
350,0
400,0
450,0
500,0
20,0 25,0 30,0 35,0 40,0 45,0 50,0 55,0
Motor
cost
(100,000
units
per
annum)
in
€
Loss energy consumption in Wh/km
Cost vs. efficiency trade-off
€ 153 € 184 € 153 € 153 € 161 € 177
€ 62
€ 114
€ 149 € 156 € 241
€ 191
€ 79
€ 79 € 101 € 101
€ 79
€ 101
€ 294
€ 377
€ 404 € 410
€ 481 € 469
€ 0
€ 100
€ 200
€ 300
€ 400
€ 500
€ 600
Synrel Fe-assy
Synrel
Cast
Induction
Built
Induction
Rare-earth
PM
Tesla
machine
Cost comparison of different motors at
100,000 units per annum
Stator Rotor Passive Parts
Obvious that our ReFreeDrive motor alternatives will
never surpass the rare-earth PM motor total driving
efficiency for a given powertrain configuration.
But, as the battery price to decrease in some years,
our cheaper motor solutions will become viable
economically, when the efficiency lost by a cheaper
motor technology can be offset through higher
battery capacity.

19. 16 Apr 2021 19
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project
Final Outlook
• Given that by latest 2030 we will have >25 Mio EVs per year produced
globally and assumed that maybe 30% are an addressable market for our
ReFreeDrive motor sizes (scalable between 75kW to 200kW), with the
uptake of BEV & PHEV sales beyond 2025 and the need to substitute
critical rare earths, both technologies Induction Motor with copper
rotor and Synchronous Reluctance Motor (with/ or without non-critical
Ferrites) promise to have a solid market opportunity.
• Our ReFreeDrive project provided a solid contribution investigating
three different drivetrain solutions as alternatives to rare earth PM
machines.
• The know-how generated in project developments has been of great
relevance for all the partners involved, beyond the specific performance
achieved to be further exploited (on academic and commercial level).
• Our ReFreeDrive drivetrain solutions promise excellent performance vs
cost ratio for mass production.
• Plus, all e-machines from the ReFreeDrive project show a significant
lower environmental impact compared to NdFeB permanent magnet
motors.
Market
Demand
Know-How
Technology
Comparision
Cost effective
Green &
Sustainable

20. 16 Apr 2021 20
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under grant agreement No 770143
ReFreeDrive Project Overview
Please visit: www.refreedrive.eu
and
ElectricDrivetrainInnovationCluster in LinkedIn
Contacts:
Alicia Rodriguez (Cidaut), Coordinator,
alirod@cidaut.es
Giuseppe Fabri (Uni L’Aquila), Dissemination,
giuseppe.fabri@univaq.it
Tomas Jezdinsky (ECI), Communication,
tomas.jezdinsky@copperalliance.eu
Questions?