Design and analytical evaluation of a modular permanent magnet vernier motor with two-slot-pitch winding configuration for electric motorcycle applications

This paper presents the design, modeling, and experimental evaluation of a 48 V, 1 kW, and 600 rpm permanent magnet vernier motor for electric motorcycle applications. The proposed motor employs a modular stator structure and incorporates a two-slot pitch winding (TSPW) to improve the power factor. Its performance is benchmarked against both a yoke-based configuration and a conventional permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). An enhanced magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) method is developed for analytical modeling, and its accuracy is validated using finite-element analysis (FEA) and experimental testing of a fabricated prototype. In addition, a comprehensive thermal analysis is performed under four operating scenarios. A three-dimensional thermal simulation, conducted in ANSYS Thermal, provides detailed temperature distributions across critical motor regions. Experimental validation is carried out using embedded thermal sensors, and the measured data show strong agreement with the simulation results.