Ricardo, a long-time developer of internal combustion engines, has become a major force in the electric motor field, too. Its latest offering is an 85 kilowatt synchronous reluctance drive designed primarily for electric vehicle traction applications, made with advanced manufacturing techniques and no rare earth minerals. Without spilling any number beans other that the expected power output, Ricardo says that, “Using a conventional distributed stator winding, the Ricardo synchronous reluctance electric machine is a highly innovative design that makes use of low-cost materials, simple manufacturing processes and uncomplicated construction. It has a rotor made from cut steel laminations, which are used to direct and focus the flux across the air gap. By maximizing this flux linkage between the stator and rotor, performance can be optimized within a tightly packaged, low weight and rare earth element free design. Paul Rivera, Managing Director of the Ricardo hybrid and electric vehicle systems business, explains the impetus to develop such motors. “As the market …