BorgWarner, one of the largest automotive component suppliers globally and in India, Borgwarner is working on components for alternate fuel vehicles, including EVs, Ethanol, and Hydrogen.
Speaking to Express Mobility on the sidelines of the SAE India International Mobility Conference 2022, Dwarakanath Simili, the Head of Systems Engineering – TCI Power Drive Systems at BorgWarner says that “Hydrogen fuel is definitely in our roadmap. We have a dedicated business unit focusing on hydrogen fuel, and how that fits into the overall vehicle propulsion mix. BorgWarner is applying its learnings from the electric mobility space and the internal combustion engine to see how they can contribute towards hydrogen-powered mobility.”
However, Borgwarner is working on two essential components for vehicles that run on electricity or Hydrogen. The company’s focus is on electric motors and inverters, as Simili says, “Whatever the energy source is, battery or fuel cell, you still need these two fundamental components to provide torque to the wheels.”
He adds, “Electric motors are key. There is tremendous technological development in electric machines. It’s not a new thing. It’s been there for 100 years. However, there is a lot of innovation happening in this space as we try to make them safe, compact, and powerful, where you’re able to get 200-300 kilometre range on a single charge.”
This is achieved through a mix of software and hardware, and when it comes to the former, BorgWarner’s Technical Center in India (Bangalore) takes care of the software ecosystem, from design, development and testing. The company is also working with domestic OEMs in motor and power electronics integration, so a lot of the application and control development happens in Bangalore.
For a country like India which has its unique challenges, Simili says that BorgWarner is taking a two-pronged approach. He says, “If you invest in these core technologies deeply enough, the solutions will enable volume and scale, which is one of India’s primary challenges as well as opportunities.” He adds, “We are seeing if we can develop components that can run 1,00,000 miles (1.6 lakh km) for five years under the warranty period, then how can we take those designs and then localise it for the Indian market.”
Speaking of localisation, Simili says that most electric car manufacturers such as Tesla, GM, and even Indian OEMs like Tata Motors and Mahindra use Internal Permanent Magnet machines that use rare earth materials, that are predominantly mined in China. And when reducing dependency and increasing sustainability is the goal, that’s where BorgWarner steps in with its research on motor topologies that do not have rare materials.
One solution is BorgWarner’s ‘Separately Excited Machine’ which uses rotors and stators where the former has windings. This kind of becomes an electromagnet that does not use rare earth materials and allows for a robust design, great for Indian conditions. He says, “Robustness and endurance are big elements in India.”
