Tesla Motors

[roydm]

Just out of curiosity is there anything special about the motors in a Tesla automobile. I know they are known for their lightning acceleration.
What type of motor?
3 Phase or more?
How many Poles?
Rev range?
Voltage?
Horsepower?

Any other interesting details on the drive system?

My SIL is very interested in these cars, I want to impress his socks off LOL
Thanks
Roy

 

[dArsonval]

Roy, wouldn't you gain more accurate, viable information by simply writing directly to the company?

Your "SIL" would be more impressed with that information, (don't 'cha think?) than any tid-bits you gained from an Internet forum.

There's nothing to be embarrassed about in writing directly to a company.

Try it!

John : )

 

[cswilson]

A lot can be found by simple searches. I'll start you off:

It's a 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor driven from an inverter using field-oriented control.

 

[waross]

Search this site. Tesla specs may have been discussed already.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[BrianPetersen]

The motor is actively cooled. So is the inverter.

 

[jraef]

I believe the new Model 3s are now using a 3 phase PMAC motor and inverter drive. Higher power density, meaning less weight per HP.


" We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know." -- W. H. Auden

 

[itsmoked]

762hp from the four motors.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[cswilson]

jraef:

You're right! While Tesla has been very quiet about the change, others ferreted it out:

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/au...l-3-has-unexpected-electric-motor-design.html

I'm surprised. (Not at you being right...) While PM AC motors are smaller and lighter, and a little more efficient, they are also significantly more expensive, which is strange to me when it seems that the big thing for the Model 3 was to get the cost down enough to be a mass-market car. Also, it is much more difficult to vary the field strength in a PM motor enough to do away with a mechanical transmission while keeping the necessary torque/speed combinations. I don't know what Tesla has done here.

 

[TugboatEng]

The motors are less special than the control system. You can run any electric motor at any power output provided the time period at that power output is short enough. I would guess that the continuous rating of the motors in the Tesla are much less than 762 horsepower. Water cooling does help, though. What makes Tesla motors unique is a control system that carefully controls current to allow the motors to operate at very high power output for controlled periods of time without damage from overheating.

 

[itsmoked]

Good point CS. I wonder why they'd bother even with 4 motors in the model 3.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[roydm]

Thank-you gentlemen for the information, I did google Tesla Motors of course and got some conflicting information but if I want the real oil on motors I will always come here.
Besides which it's an interesting topic don't you think?

 

[jpts]

I also found it strange that Tesla went into PM motors. Yes, they have somewhat smaller weight/size and bit better efficiency compared to induction motor, but well designed induction motor with squirrel-cage is not bad either.

I think the biggest problem with PM motors is that they are highly sensitive to rare-earth prices, which are into large degree defined by Chinese politics (as over 90% of the Neodymium for example comes from China). There was interesting article on Bloomberg (although the focus was on batteries):

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-cobalt-batteries/

According to this, price of Cobalt has increased 3 times since Tesla 3 was announced (I'm not sure though is Tesla 3 using Neodymium or Cobalt magnets). Also price of Neodymium has increased significantly during las 12 months

By the way, here is an interview of Tesla's chief motor engineer

https://chargedevs.com/features/tes...ential-of-next-generation-motor-technologies/

 

[edison123]

For a supposedly mass produced cars, why would one need 762 HP?

Muthu

http://www.edison.co.in

 

[BrianPetersen]

Marketing.

 

[waross]

Peak short time HP. The maximum RMS HP will be much lower.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[jraef]

The model 3 cars have one rear wheel drive motor rated 258HP per EPA filings. The 4 motors concept is their newly announced Semi Truck, which will use 4 of the same motors used for the Model 3, one on each wheel (making it, by the way, 4WD). I haven't heard the HP number yet, but they may be using different gearing to get more torque at the wheels, which may explain the math differential. Isn't vehicle "HP" measured at the wheels?

Someone spotted a prototype on the road yesterday in a town near by...

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-semi-spotted-public-streets-sunnyvale-video/

" We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know." -- W. H. Auden

 

[BrianPetersen]

258 HP = 192 kW. The car has roughly a 65 kWh battery pack. Full power would run it flat in less than 20 minutes and that's assuming the whole deal is 100% efficient.

The Model S P100D situation is even sillier. 762 HP = 568 kW. It would run the 100 kWh battery pack flat in 10 minutes! Granted, this would probably involve going 300 km/h or more if the rest of the vehicle would be up to the task. Range at top speed ... maybe 50 km?

All of the Tesla cars have a restricted top speed. There are plenty of reasons. I'm sure their one-speed gearing has the motor hitting its rated max rpm before it actually runs out of power. Protection from idiots is another factor, and it's at least in part because the motors and drive units and batteries are not capable of maximum power output continuously, and also to ensure that the range does not become laughably short.

It's pretty common to have a certain "continuous" rating, and a bigger "intermittent" rating. It's no different here. Combustion engines are not immune to this, either. Top-fuel drag racing engines make thousands of horsepower but only for a few seconds at a time.

 

[waross]

On that size of truck it would be called tandem drive, not four wheel drive, or 6x4 to differentiate from 6x6 when there is a mixed fleet.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[jraef]

You have to remember that in a car, the motor only consumes energy when accelerating, coasting costs nothing, then recaptures energy when decelerating to recharge the batteries. The only net drain is from the losses through the system.

Bill, makes sense. Not used to there being 6 wheels...


" We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know." -- W. H. Auden

 

[zlatkodo]

Some photos of Tesla motor.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.facebook.com/notes/ac-windings/tesla-motor/1807189262634321/[/url]