LONDON, Sept 19 (Askume) – German startup DeepDrive said on Thursday it has raised 30 million euros ($33.5 million) from investors to produce efficient, low-cost “twin rotors” for major carmakers.
The Series B round was led by technology venture capital fund Leitmotif and includes new capital from existing investors including BMW i-Ventures and Co-pace, the venture capital arms of BMW AG (BMWG.DE) and major auto supplier Continental AG (CONG.DE), the founders of Samsung .
DeepDrive is working with eight of the world’s top 10 automakers and hopes to win major contracts within the next year or two, Chief Executive Felix Pornbacher told Askume.
He said the company’s motors should be used in mass-produced models around 2028.
A traditional electric vehicle motor has a stator and a rotor that spins inside. Pornbacher told Askume that DeepDrive has developed a U-shaped “double rotor” that spins inside and outside the stator to make better use of the rotor’s magnetic field.
DeepDrive’s motor uses about half the magnets of conventional motors, uses about 80% less iron, takes up half the space and reduces manufacturing costs by about 30%, the company said.
Pornbacker says this motor is the best electric vehicle power available today. It will offer 20% more range than earlier models, or allow automakers to build smaller batteries to achieve the same range.
Batteries are by far the most expensive component of electric vehicles.
With electric vehicle sales slowing, traditional automakers are under pressure to create more affordable models to increase appeal and attract more buyers.
“Increasing range and reducing cost, that’s what automakers care about,” Borbach said. “The key here is the efficiency of the electric motor, because it achieves both of those things.”
(1 USD = 0.8956 EUR)
