Enhanced Performance of a Synchronous Reluctance Motor due to Less Rare-Earth Magnets Combined Ferrite and NdFeB

Reducing the use of rare-earth permanent magnets is an important for the future shift to electric vehicles. We proposed a reluctance machine with enhanced power due to a permanent magnet (PM) arrangement combining ferrite and NdFeB PMs. The paper describes a new idea and mechanism for enhancing performance over a wide speed range despite reducing rare-earth PM in motors. We proposed the use of a synchronous reluctance motor using ferrite and NdFeB PMs at the outer circumference of the flux barrier. This motor can produce comparable power at higher efficiency over a wide speed range versus the PM motor driving the Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle.