The automotive industry is increasingly offering environmentally friendly alternatives for its customers. One of the most significant has been the rise of electric vehicles in recent years. Located in Fort Worth, Texas, tech startup company Linear Labs is accelerating this trend with its latest advancements in electric motor design.
The company contends that its new Hunstable Electric Turbine (HET) can offer superior performance compared to conventional electric motors. If Linear Labs can in fact deliver the product that they’re promoting, they may very well be in the process of changing the Electric Vehicle (EV) game forever. If you’re interested in the future of automotive technology, read on to learn more about this potentially exciting development.
Current Electric Motors Suffer From a Significant Drawback
Most electric cars today use gearboxes. These are single-speed reduction gearboxes that are a bit different from the multi-speed gearboxes that are used with internal combustion engines. These gearboxes help electric cars achieve speeds and performance similar to what internal combustion engines that you’ll encounter in your automotive course can achieve. The only problem is that they are extremely heavy and expensive, which reduces the efficiency of the vehicle and increases its price tag.
The HET Motor Could Revolutionize the Power and Efficiency of Electric Motors
What makes the HET potentially revolutionary is that it eliminates the gearbox. That means the vehicle can weigh a lot less, which in turn helps it massively increase torque output and gives it a huge boost in efficiency. Plus it helps reduce the cost of the vehicle.
The HET achieves this impressive result through a number of innovations. For example, whereas most motors have one or two rotors, the HET has four. It also uses a four-sided “magnetic torque tunnel” that reduces waste and ensures all of the magnetism generate is used to create motion. As a result, Linear Labs claims its motor can produce two to five times the torque output, three times the power density, and double the total output compared to current motors of the same size.
But Don’t Expect to See the HET in Cars Right After Auto Technology School
Without a doubt, Linear Labs is making some big claims about its HET electric motor. If those claims turn out to be true, then electric cars could suddenly be built that are capable of going faster and further than any that are for sale today. However, if you’re expecting to see one of these motors right after you graduate from auto technology school, you may be disappointed.
While a number of independent experts have praised the HET, so far Linear Labs hasn’t released any of the studies that supposedly prove its claims, which mean there’s no way to verify that they are true. Furthermore, it’ll be at least a couple years before the HET is put inside an actual car. Next year, the company says they will introduce it into a prototype scooter and by 2021 they hope to have it in their first car.
Do you want to study auto technology in Surrey?
Contact Automotive Training Centres today to learn more about our programs.
