Comparison of components between electric vehicle drive motors and internal combustion engines
Q: How many fewer components does an electric vehicle drive motor have than an internal combustion engine? 100? 300? Or 500?
A: More than 1,000!
According to statistics, a conventional internal combustion engine usually contains more than 1,400 components, while an electric vehicle drive motor has only 100-200 components, a reduction of nearly 1,000 components.
For traditional machining tools, equipment, and production lines, these reduced parts are like jobs replaced by AI, and market demand is decreasing yearly. In particular, the demand for machining tools for cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, crankshafts, connecting rods, and camshafts has dropped significantly.
However, metal machining of motors and battery packs has brought new opportunities, such as motor shafts, motor housings, battery brackets, etc., which have become new growth points.
Motor housing processing: high precision, large diameter, and lightweight challenges
Electric vehicles have very high requirements for component precision, especially in terms of lightweight and complex shapes, which poses new challenges to tools and machine tools. The main hole diameter of the motor housing depends on the size of the stator and usually needs to reach φ200mm or more, which is a large diameter for tool making.
To reduce energy loss, the fit between the motor housing, stator, and motor shaft must be accurate. In particular, the shape and position tolerances of the main hole and the bearing hole are strict. At the same time, to improve the power density, the wall thickness of the motor housing also needs to be precisely controlled.
At present, high precision, large diameter, and thin wall deformation are the main characteristics of motor housing processing. To ensure processing accuracy, the concept of guide bar tooling has gradually become popular, and its size adjustment accuracy can reach the micron level. The guide bar not only supports and guides the tool but also reduces deformation during deep-hole processing.
However, the weight of large-diameter tools is a design problem. The weight of traditionally designed tools can reach more than 25kg, which runs counter to the concept of high-speed processing.
Battery pack housing processing: technical breakthroughs in thin-walling and complex structures
The processing trend of power batteries, the "heart" of electric vehicles, is moving towards high density, high capacity, and high voltage. This puts higher requirements on the battery pack housing: in a limited space, not only more battery modules need to be accommodated but also enough space needs to be reserved for the cooling system. Therefore, the processing trend of the battery pack housing is thin-walled, complex, and lightweight.
To achieve this goal, PCD tool materials and oil mist lubrication technology are key. Depending on the processing tasks, it is essential to choose the right milling process. For example, when performing large-removal processing, using a milling cutter with a large removal volume can better meet the needs.
In addition to traditional metal processing, lightweight automobiles are also a major trend. Engineering plastics and composite materials are gradually becoming the first choice for lightweight. The processing technology of such materials can draw on the experience of the aerospace field, such as using diamond PCD tools to process complex-shaped workpieces such as carbon fiber plates.
