Electric Transaxle™

US Patents
5,851,162 and 7,481,730

By Alex Pesiridis
Senior Engineer
Technipower Systems, Inc.
Electric Drives Group
www.technipowersystems.com
Overview
Electric vehicle drive systems are in high demand as a result of the public policy trend to reduce
consumption of fossil fuels. In place of internal combustion engines, future electric drives for
cars and trucks will use battery systems, fuel cells or hybrid configurations. Today, typical drive
train solutions incorporate multiple gear sets designed to provide varying amounts of torque
which are extremely inefficient throughout the range of speeds a standard vehicle might
experience. Minimizing these losses involves more than simply making each drive train
component more efficient. By combining the mechanical power source, transmission, power
transfer mechanism (drive shaft) and differential/axle into one compact mechanism, the overall
efficiency of the vehicle is increased significantly and the simplicity of the system is enhanced.
The elimination of component parts and the reduction of internal heat losses also improves the
overall reliability for such systems.

A unique solution to this problem is the Electric Transaxle™, a device that provides a compact,
flexible design allowing both front and rear-wheel-drive configurations. It is a drop in solution
for retrofit and OEM vehicles comprising motors, gear sets, continuously variable transmission
(CVT) and axle/differential enabling a vehicle to seamlessly accelerate from a dead stop to full
cruise mode in a highly efficient manner. The technology is applicable to all electric and hybrid
vehicle platforms including fuel cell powered vehicles.

Background
Although electric motors and drive wheels are, by their nature, very efficient, all the parts that
intervene to make a vehicle useable in a typical application add tremendous inefficiencies. The
most loss oriented components are gear sets whether they are in the transmission, differential, or
somewhere else in the drive train. Today, most electric drive systems have a negligible impact on
overall efficiency for this reason. Vehicle architectures usually have multiple gear sets to achieve
the desired torque multiplication and differential wheel turning.

Figure 1: Common Architectures of Other Electric Vehicles

The Electric Transaxle minimizes these losses by using its integral subcomponents at those
times, and under those specific conditions, when they are most efficient. Using a planetary gear
set while in the initial acceleration phase and then transitioning to an effective direct motor drive
system at cruising speed by locking the gear set, provides the ultimate efficiency with the
greatest flexibility in typical operating conditions. Since the Electric Transaxle is scalable for
different vehicle horse power requirements and provides all the benefits of regenerative braking,
it is a form and function replacement for a multitude of individual systems in a typical
application.

Not only is the efficiency increased with the Electric Transaxle, but with a reduced parts count
and a straightforward concentric design, the Electric Transaxle allows for a standard vehicle
platform to be customized by software changes alone. This substantially differs from any
standard electric drive train available today. In current technology any specialized changes
typically require both hardware and software modifications, thereby severely limiting an
application’s breadth and increasing its costs, such as in re-tooling and long product re-
development cycles. Specialized changes that the Electric Transaxle easily accommodates
include slip differential, regenerative breaking, regenerative differential, and a host of other
safety features. Figure 2 below shows the unit’s typical profile.

Figure 2: Electric Transaxle in a standard straight axle configuration

Ease of installation and integration is a major additional benefit of the Electric Transaxle when
compared to existing electric drive trains. The Electric Transaxle is a drop in replacement for a
standard differential axle or differential with independent axles (half shafts). With this
sophisticated technology packaged in a form that makes it readily interchangeable in existing
vehicle configurations, conversions can be completed in as little as one day. Shortened time and
decreased complexity of installation substantially impacts the universe of existing vehicles for
which electrification becomes practical and economical. Although OEM applications are a more
challenging opportunity due to the substantial investment the large automakers have in their
existing technologies, the Electric Transaxle is an extremely compelling alternative for the top
tier suppliers to the automotive industry.
Electric Transaxle in Depth
The Electric Transaxle is a uniquely efficient device that can replace traditional geared
differential units with a complete electric power drive unit for land based applications. Due to its
simplicity and efficiency, the Electric Transaxle provides a novel solution while providing the
added advantage of operating as a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).

The Electric Transaxle develops its torque through the combination of permanent magnet (PM)
brushless DC Motors and two planetary gears sets, one for each drive wheel. The PM motors,
having a flat torque curve, provide significant torque at low RPM which conventional motor
systems cannot match. In conjunction with the planetary gear set, the PM motors provide torque
multiplication by taking two power inputs and combining them into one output.

Permanent Magnet (PM) Brushless DC Motor

Permanent Magnet Brushless DC motors are used as the primary electrical input to the Electric
Transaxle. Although the Electric Transaxle could have been developed using any type of motor
technology, the PM Brushless Motors were chosen because they provide the best performance in
the physical envelop required. The Electric Transaxle uses the continuous torque of the PM
motors to great advantage. This differs from other competitive technologies which use the brief,
intermittent torque zone, as shown in Figure 3, to achieve over-duty operation for purposes of
acceleration. This approach limits system design because of the decreased amount of time
available to operate under the highest torque conditions, and consequently, requires larger, more
expensive power electronics to accommodate the increased power flows.

Figure 3: Intermittent Torque and Continuous Torque Regions

Planetary Gear Set

In general, planetary gear sets are an important component of the transmission industry. They
provide a means of converting angular velocity (RPM) and torque from one motive force into
another form which is applied to the output. Planetary gear sets are popular because they allow a
gear ratio to be applied to the input power while having the gear assembly be concentric, or co-
linear, with the power input. The planetary gear set consists of four main components:
 • Ring Gear – Largest diameter gear of the gear set with gear teeth revolving around the
inner diameter of the gear
• Sun Gear – Smaller than the ring gear and concentric with the ring gear in the planetary
gear system
• Planet Gears –Gears vary in size and depend on the amount of space between the Ring
and Sun Gears. There can be multiple sun gears in the planetary gear set that surround
the sun gear. The number of planet gears indicates the magnitude of torque and the
number of loads the planetary gear system is required to handle.
• Planetary Carrier – Assembly that contains all planet gears in concentric pattern
between the sun and ring gears. The planetary carrier can be attached to a shaft to make
the planetary carrier and gears and input or output.

Figure 4: Planetary gear set

Traditional planetary gear sets in transmission devices have one input and one output to achieve
the desired result. Since there are three main components (ring, sun, and planetary carrier with
planet gears) that can be moved, one component is usually fixed. In traditional automotive
transmissions, the ring gear is fixed to the transmission casing, the input is the sun gear and the
output is the planetary carrier assembly with planet gears. Allowing two inputs to be applied to
two of the components of the planetary gear set provides a continuously variable output at the
remaining component of the planetary gear set. Such is the case as evidenced by an earlier patent
Technipower Systems was awarded (Electric Wheel™, US Patent 5,067,932).

Electric Transaxle Topology

Technipower Systems has patents on two versions of the Electric Transaxle. The difference
between the two patents relates to the shared element of the two planetary gear sets, i.e. either
shared sun gears or shared ring gears. The Electric Transaxle discussed here uses a common ring
gear structure powered by a PM motor, shared between the two planetary gear sets. The two sun
gears are each powered by their own individual motors, allowing the Electric Transaxle to
operate each of the two wheels of the vehicle independently. Independent control of each wheel
provides a wide variety of drive modes including limited slip differential, locked differential, and
variable torque differential all with regeneration.
 Figure 5: Electric Transaxle Technology Exploded

Digital Control
Digital control of the Electric Transaxle enables the efficient use of torque on demand. As
torque demand is increased, the Electric Transaxle supplies sufficient torque to move a load from
dead stop to the desired velocity with quick acceleration. This is achieved by varying the ratio of
angular velocity (RPM) in each of the Electric Transaxle component structures. As the power
requirement decreases and the corresponding torque requirement diminishes, eventually the three
main components (sun, ring, sun) are rotating precisely at the same speed. When all the
components of the Electric Transaxle are rotating at the same speed, the two planetary gear sets
are locked together and the PM motors have a one-to-one relationship to the wheel and load.
This point of operation is the most efficient because of the removal of the losses associated with
the planetary gear sets, thereby also reducing wear and tear on the device.

Mid-range acceleration in the Electric Transaxle is also accomplished with digital control by
commanding the ring and sun motor RPM to operate in a fixed ratio that allows the vehicle to
essentially “down shift” instantaneously for passing. The relationship of ring and sun motor
RPM provides the Electric Transaxle the ability to provide on-demand torque for acceleration
while eliminating low speed shudder, gear grinding, gear noise, and vibration.

Conclusion
The Technipower Systems Electric Transaxle technology is revolutionary in being the first
motor/transmission device to be built into the space constraints of a traditional differential axle
assembly while achieving greater control, operational flexibility, and high efficiency. This
technology can immediately be utilized for the electrification of existing vehicles and has great
potential to transform the application of electric drive systems in pure electric, hybrid and fuel
cell vehicles.