Understanding New Trends in the Motor Industry Through Five Key Tracks

Axial flux motors represent the fastest-growing and most technologically advanced category of motors currently in industrialization. Unlike the traditional radial flux motor’s “drum-like” structure, they employ a “sandwich” flat structure, where the magnetic field penetrates both the rotor and stator axially, completely reshaping the motor’s physical form and performance boundaries. By 2026, China is expected to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies and mass production of tens of thousands of units. Their core performance significantly outperforms traditional motors. At the same output power, motor weight, axial dimensions, and metal consumables can be reduced by approximately 50%, with a maximum power density of 25.73 kW/kg and a maximum speed exceeding 18,000 rpm. They also boast advantages such as lightweight design, high torque, high energy efficiency, and low losses.

The core of this technological breakthrough lies in the innovation of specialized materials and processes. The research team independently developed PGH high-performance special magnets, solving the industry problems of high-temperature demagnetization, poor stability, and difficulty in mass production of traditional axial flux motors. This significantly improves the motor’s high-temperature stability, magnetic energy product, and mechanical strength. Its industrial applications are extensive, suitable for new energy vehicle power drives, humanoid robot precision joints, low-altitude aircraft power systems, and new energy buses. It frees up more battery space in vehicles, increases range, and makes intelligent equipment more compact and responsive, representing a core upgrade direction for replacing traditional high-efficiency motors.

In-wheel motors are hailed as a core drive solution for future transportation equipment. Their core principle is to break away from the traditional centralized drive architecture, highly integrating the motor, brakes, bearings, and other drive units inside the wheel. This allows for independent wheel drive and control, completely eliminating intermediate transmission structures such as drive shafts and reducers, and reconstructing the vehicle chassis layout. In 2026, China completed its technological breakthroughs and launched the first compliant mass-produced passenger vehicle with an in-wheel motor, marking the official commercialization of this technology for civilian applications.

Technically, through innovative designs such as multi-field strong coupling and decoupling design, 12-layer trapezoidal tooth variable pitch flat wire winding, and tooth-yoke separated stator structure, the technology solves industry pain points such as limited space, difficult heat dissipation, large torque pulsation, and harsh operating conditions in in-wheel motors. Simultaneously, it incorporates new thermally conductive potting materials and a low-flow-resistance cooling structure to achieve efficient heat dissipation within a sealed, confined space, significantly improving motor durability and operational stability. This technology offers significant advantages: power commands are directly delivered to the wheels with faster response times, allowing for precise and independent control of power output to each wheel, adapting to complex intelligent driving conditions. It also significantly optimizes the overall vehicle space structure, achieving a flat chassis, expanded interior space, and lightweight design, effectively improving driving range and driving experience. It is widely applicable in new energy passenger vehicles, special-purpose vehicles, and intelligent unmanned vehicles.

Flat wire motors are a cutting-edge motor technology suitable for humanoid robots and precision industrial equipment. Compared to traditional round wire motors, their core advantages lie in improving slot fill factor and space utilization. Through flat wire forming and high-precision winding processes, the motor slot fill factor can be increased by 40%, and the torque output can be increased by more than 50% in the same volume. This enables high-density power output in extremely small spaces, perfectly meeting the lightweight and high-precision requirements of robot micro-joints and precision servo equipment.

This technology enables a 30% reduction in the volume and weight of robot joint modules, while providing smoother power output and higher control precision, effectively solving problems such as motion stuttering, insufficient load-bearing capacity, and bulky structure in humanoid robots. It has already been applied in batches to humanoid robots, collaborative robots, high-end servo control systems, and precision automation equipment, serving as a core supporting technology for the miniaturization and high-precision iteration of intelligent equipment.

For high-end applications such as large industrial equipment and power grid generation equipment, key breakthroughs have been achieved in high-voltage, high-power motor insulation technology. Domestically, the core technology for stator insulation of 35kV large synchronous motors has been mastered, achieving complete independent control of the technology and solving long-standing problems in high-voltage motors, such as poor insulation stability, insufficient withstand voltage, and operational safety hazards. This technology significantly improves the operational stability, withstand voltage performance, and service life of high-voltage motors under complex power grid conditions, adapting to the safe and stable operation requirements of new power systems. It is widely used in large-scale power generation equipment, heavy industrial drive equipment, and high-power motors for power grid applications, filling a technological gap in the domestic high-voltage, high-end motor field.

Based on the GB/T 32891 series IE-level international energy efficiency standard system, variable frequency speed control intelligent motor technology has been continuously iterated and upgraded, becoming a core cutting-edge direction for industrial energy-saving transformation. Unlike traditional fixed-speed motors, intelligent variable frequency motors can dynamically adjust speed and power output according to load conditions, adapting to complex variable operating scenarios and perfectly matching the needs of industrial variable frequency speed control systems. Among them, dedicated variable frequency motors can be designed and manufactured according to the IE4 ultra-high energy efficiency level, combining intelligent algorithms to achieve precise energy efficiency control, improving the overall energy saving rate by more than 15% compared to traditional motors. Simultaneously, with status perception, fault warning, and adaptive control functions, intelligent management of the entire motor lifecycle is achieved. Widely used in industrial production lines, HVAC equipment, and new energy supporting equipment, it is a core technology carrier for implementing energy conservation, carbon reduction, and high-efficiency compliance in the industrial field.

Overall, current cutting-edge motor technologies exhibit three core trends: First, structural innovation, upgrading from traditional radial structures to axial flux and distributed hub-integrated structures, achieving breakthroughs in light weighting and high power density; second, material empowerment, with new high-performance magnets, insulating materials, and thermally conductive materials driving leaps in motor performance and stability; and third, intelligent efficiency, combining frequency conversion control and intelligent sensing technologies to achieve precise energy saving and intelligent operation and maintenance, while ensuring energy efficiency compliance and scenario adaptability. In the future, with continuous technological iteration, high-efficiency, lightweight, intelligent, and specially adapted motors will fully replace traditional motors, becoming core foundational components for high-end manufacturing, the new energy industry, and the development of new power systems.