Lucid Motors unveils innovative new electric drive unit for racing
Lucid Motors has unveiled a new electric drive unit for motorsport. In fact, the unit is already being tested as a standard front-wheel drive unit for the Formula E championship in the new Gen3 single-seaters. Lucid Group CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said:
“With an incredible power density of 14.7 hp/kg and immense energy recovery, this drive unit will once again transform electric motorsport, following in the footsteps of our revolutionary battery pack in previous racing seasons.
For Lucid, technology transfer between motorsport and road cars is a two-way symbiosis. This new motorsports drive unit is based directly on Lucid’s innovative powertrain technology developed in-house and road-tested in every Lucid Air. I’m excited about the prospect that some of the technical advances introduced may, in turn, find their way into future Lucid road cars.”
Comprising motor, inverter, differential and transmission combined, all weighing 32kg, this new electric propulsion unit is capable of delivering 469bhp and reaching a maximum rotor speed of 19,500rpm. In addition, the propulsion unit, located in the nose of the single-seaters, provides regenerative energy recovery from the front wheels during braking.
It also incorporates the patented microjet cooling system found on the Lucid Air engines. Lucid expects that some of the advances embodied in the championship’s racing cars will also be incorporated into its future electric cars. Under the Lucid Air model, the company launched the high-performance Lucid Air Sapphire last year.
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