RJ Provides Overview of In-House Single Motor Drive Unit Design

[mindstormsguy]

900A is like 480 hp on 400V. Sure would be exciting to have four of those in a single vehicle.

You’re right, and that’s kinda disappointing. 2x that would be the “over 600HP” that they mentioned. That suggests that they’ve designed this motor for a 400V architecture, not the 800V some of us were hoping would be coming.

If they were planning this for an 800V vehicle, they would have optimized the design for a lower amperage. 🫤

Sponsored

 

[Dark-Fx]

You’re right, and that’s kinda disappointing. 2x that would be the “over 600HP” that they mentioned. That suggests that they’ve designed this motor for a 400V architecture, not the 800V some of us were hoping would be coming.

If they were planning this for an 800V vehicle, they would have optimized the design for a lower amperage. 🫤

It could be designed for both. An 800V architecture might just mean half as many FETs or IGBTs or whatever they might be using.

 

[mindstormsguy]

It could be designed for both. An 800V architecture might just mean half as many FETs or IGBTs or whatever they might be using.

Not if you want the design to be efficient. 800V transistors and 400V transistors are totally different beasts. You can optimize the motor driver architecture for one or the other. Could you design a 900A 800V controller? Sure, but if you only intend to use it at 450A or 400V, then you would have made some pointless design compromises.

 

[R1Sky Business]

Mad scientist at work.....awesome.

 

[R1Sky Business]

I like her....RJ wants a technological discussion, she says, " a lot of torque and power"

Old school

 

[R1Sky Business]

900A is like 480 hp on 400V. Sure would be exciting to have four of those in a single vehicle.

Maniac!!!!!

 

[R1Sky Business]

It's fun to see someone other than Elon talking about EV nuts and bolts! (We're Elon fans, but nice to see the industry growing).

Everyone is the Rivian forums are also Elon fans

 

[R1Sky Business]

Agreed. Tbh, I just want the dual motor version for our r1s reservation as a zero cost option. Rivian can take the win, and we would get our preferred motor configuration (assuming it pans out as expected).

Time to email Tony....let's get it done

 

[Autolycus]

I do enjoy how strongly RJ emphasizes "MORE THAN 600HP". Clearly all they're comfortable saying at this early stage is a vague minimum number, but it sounds like they're planning for a good bit more than that in the final specs.

 

[sub]

900A is like 480 hp on 400V. Sure would be exciting to have four of those in a single vehicle.

Adding 4 of these motors to the truck would almost certainly not result in 480*4 = 1920HP. I doubt the battery can supply enough current to power 4 of those at max at the same time.

I would expect that the current motors are close to maxing out the battery, so the only time you would see a significant performance boost from the more powerful motors in a 4x config would be in the rare situation were some of the wheels are traction limited while others have plenty of grip to spare. Unless they are also working on a new battery and new cooling...

Tesla got caught playing that trick, advertising the combined HP of both motors at max when the battery couldn't power both motors at max at the same time. In addition to bad press, there were lawsuits, so I doubt Rivian would repeat that blunder.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Adding 4 of these motors to the truck would almost certainly not result in 480*4 = 1920HP. I doubt the battery can supply enough current to power 4 of those at max at the same time.

I would expect that the current motors are close to maxing out the battery, so the only time you would see a significant performance boost from the more powerful motors in a 4x config would be in the rare situation were some of the wheels are traction limited while others have plenty of grip to spare. Unless they are also working on a new battery and new cooling...

Tesla got caught playing that trick, advertising the combined HP of both motors at max when the battery couldn't power both motors at max at the same time. In addition to bad press, there were lawsuits, so I doubt Rivian would repeat that blunder.

Sure, I also never suggested they would do that.

 

[FindMyElectric]

Everyone is the Rivian forums are also Elon fans

The shade! Ha ha.

Sponsored