British startup Advanced Electric Machines specializes in electric motors that do not use rare earths. After facing financial difficulties in recent years, it has now secured a development partnership with a major automotive supplier.
The British startup Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) has apparently reached a milestone, announcing that it has signed a development agreement with one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers.
The agreement is said to be worth a seven-figure sum. The young company has not yet named its new partner, but the group is said to have an annual turnover of tens of billions of euros.
Without magnets
AEM emerged from Newcastle University in 2017 and specializes in electric motors without magnets, which means they do not require any rare earth elements. The powertrains of many electric vehicles contain critical raw materials such as neodymium or dysprosium. Still, the British company’s electric motors can be manufactured exclusively from harmless, recyclable, and readily available materials such as steel or aluminum.
The company does not disclose the principle behind AEM’s electric motors. Although asynchronous motors and separately excited synchronous motors (e.g., from BMW) are also free of permanent magnets and rare earths, copper is still used. However, AEM says it wants to dispense with this, too.
Less dependence on rare earths and on China
The choice of materials brings several advantages: lower costs, less dependence on raw materials, and reduced environmental damage. As AEM co-founder and CEO James Widmer points out, the extraction of rare earths is often associated with significant environmental impacts. This includes the release of radioactive residues. In some mining areas, entire swathes of land are also affected.
Another major problem is the reliance on China for the extraction and processing of rare earths. Especially in view of the tariff disputes between the People’s Republic and the U.S., the supply of these materials to Western manufacturers is becoming increasingly uncertain.
It is not only the automotive industry that needs these raw materials; they are also essential to the semiconductor, defense, and wind turbine industries.
Confident about the future
AEM is advocating the complete elimination of rare earths from electric motors. The company’s latest electric motor is tailored for passenger car models and is set to enter series production at the end of the decade, thanks to the new cooperation.
Advanced Electric Machines (AEM) was founded in March 2017 by Professor James Widmer (CEO) and Dr Andy Steven (CTO), both attached to Newcastle University’s Center for Advanced Electrical Drives. By 2019, it had secured more than £25 million in investment to continue developing and expanding its technologies, working with a range of partners and customers.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Times, co-founder James Widmer is emphatically confident: “We have millions of kilometers of use on our motors, which has proven that the technology works without the magnets. But it’s also actually proven that it outperforms what we’re replacing.”
Financial problems overcome?
In recent years, AEM has struggled with declining sales. In 2022, sales amounted to approximately €6 million, but in the following year they slipped to around €2.5 million.
Last year, it rose slightly again to €3.3 million, but at the same time, the company made significantly more losses, amounting to some €9.6 million. This was partly due to the loss of one of its main customers, Tevva Electric Trucks, which was facing insolvency, forcing AEM to write off its stock.
However, things seem to be looking up again for the British company. In addition to the development cooperation, Advanced Electric Machines recently acquired a major German manufacturer of commercial vehicle axles as a customer. Up to a promising future?
