FITGEN has reached by the end of September 2022 its completion, with all the remaining deliverables and final project results frozen and submitted on Nov. 11th, 2022, in preparation for the final project review meeting planned at the CRF facilities in Orbassano (IT) on Dec. 7th, 2022.
Hereunder is a concise overview of FITGEN’s final results:
The FITGEN project achieved in full its scope and ambition and, and under specific metrics, the project exceeded its expected results. The project successfully delivered two fully-functioning specimens of the e-axle (i.e. motor-inverter-transmission, complemented by the DC/DC for installation on the vehicle demonstrator pairing it with a 400 VDC battery); one specimen has been installed, tested, and qualified on the FIAT 500e vehicle demonstrator. The results of the single e-axle components can be summarised as follows:
- up to 6 kW/kg for the power density of the e-motor (+70% compared to SotA 2018, and approximately +50% compared to the SotA 2022, i.e. best-in-class market available motor technology), cutting the magnets’ weight by approximately 40% compared to the SotA 2022 (at the same content of HREE, i.e. 1.35 kg of rare-earth magnets at 4.5 wt% Dy, 0.75 wt% Tb).
- 23,000 rpm of e-motor max. rotational speed (+90% compared to the SotA 2018 and +28% compared to the SotA 2022), with sustained overspeed demonstrated up to 27,600 rpm.
- up to 35 kW/l for the power density of the inverter, (+100% compared to the SotA 2018)
The results of the e-axle tested on the bench (WP5) and in the vehicle demonstrator (WP6) can be summarised as follows:
- e-axle peak efficiency (motor + inverter + DC/DC) of 93.2%.
- WLTP distance-specific energy consumption of 135-140 Wh/km and ~76% efficiency at 400 VDC, down to 123 Wh/km when operated with the 800 VDC (i.e. by excluding the DC/DC). This is equivalent to a WLTP range of 287-293 km at 400 VDC, and 320 km at 800 VDC.
- Freeway driving range (110km/h constant speed) of 205-210 km at 180-185 Wh/km (operated at 400 VDC).
- Freeway driving range from 840-to-1,400 km with 4 battery charges (in a driving speed range from 70 to 110 km/h at 400 VDC).
Moreover, LCA/LCC results exhibit that the FITGEN e-axle is capable of reducing climate impact and energy use by 26% and 38%, respectively. In addition, the Total Cost of Ownership shows that the baseline car is slightly higher (2.7%) than the FITGEN car, while the production cost of the e-axle is estimated at 2,021 €/unit at 200,000 units/year production rate. The ex-post assessment of the TRL and MRL of the FITGEN e-axle was assessed and qualified for the e-motor, inverter, DC/DC converter, and transmission stand-alone and, finally, for the e-axle installed in the FIAT 500e demonstrator. The ex-post assessment resulted for both, TRL and MRL, at level 7 in all its components.
FITGEN also delivered excellent results in the domains of dissemination, communication, and exploitation. Specifically, 12 conference papers and 3 journal papers have been published during the project execution, with 3 more journal papers submitted and one patent application pending. Exploitation-wise, the consortium recognizes that all the technological trends identified at the proposal's submission level have been proven sound and relevant. In particular, the research activities performed to increase the e-motor’s rotational speed, the adoption of SiC power modules in the inverter, the implementation of the superfast charging, and the demonstration activities at the vehicle level are expected to generate a proven impact on the business of the industrial partners, i.e. BRUSA, ST-I, GKN, and CRF.
Note: the attached files report the final FITGEN project results ("FITGEN TRA Poster (JPEG)") as presented at the TRA2022 conference (Nov. 2022) and the FITGEN project photobook (part prototyping and testing, e-axle assembly and testing, vehicle demonstration and testing, consortium picture, "FITGEN Publishable PhotoBook (JPEG)").
