Researchers to help make electric cars cheaper

McGill University researchers are developing low-cost and high-performance electric engines for the next generation of electric vehicles, in collaboration with industrial partners Linamar, TM4, and Infolytica. They will be able to take advantage of the recent development of batteries with high energy densities to create optimal electric drivetrains for on-road electric cars. The drivetrain is the group of components in a motor vehicle that uses the energy stored in the battery to generate mechanical power and deliver it to the road surface. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced at an event held on February 22 that McGill University researchers would receive $4,719,246 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)'s Automotive Partnership Canada Initiative. The industrial partners involved in the project will provide close an additional $5 million to move the research and development of these new systems forward. The integrated systems that the McGill researchers and their partners are developing for the electric vehicle market will consist of an electronically motor coupled to a controlled multi-speed-ratio gearbox. "What's really new about what we're working on here is the optimization of the drivetrain as a fully integrated mechatronic system (this means that the mechanical design, the electronic design and the control system design are all integrated in a single unit).