3 ms·

I don't think they would have used brushes in this application. I'm quite certain that the most popular choice in this space is a squirrel cage induction motor

• amluto 5y ago
  Tesla used induction motors and even got funding from Toyota to develop them as a rare earth free design. But permanent magnet motors can be more efficient, and newer Tesla motors use permanent magnets. (Unless I’m very much mistaken, Tesla’s PM motor has no windings in the rotor.) There are plenty of motor designs with neither slip rings nor brushes. I don’t see what’s special about this supposedly new design.
  • jabl 5y ago
    There seems to be plenty of R&D around these days for developing rare earth free motors which are better than the standard induction motor (which, per se, isn't bad, but if you can do better, why not). Here's an EU project that designed and compared induction, synchronous reluctance, and synchronous reluctance with ferrite magnets in the rotor: http://www.refreedrive.eu http://www.refreedrive.eu