Review and Benchmarking of Electric Motor Product Design and Manufacturing Technologies from the Chinese Market

Electric drive units are a key component of the powertrain in today’s electric vehicles. As innovations and advancements in the field of electrified powertrains have progressed, the product topologies of the motor and the associated manufacturing techniques have evolved. China has established itself as the leading global market and a pioneer in electric mobility, and is therefore one of the innovation leaders in the field of electric drive units. To identify key manufacturing and product development trends in this globally influential and dynamic Chinese market environment, this paper primarily analyses electric motors from electric vehicles on the Chinese market and compares them with European and U.S. electric motors. To this end, 115 electric traction motors installed in 80 electric vehicles from 2019 through 2025 are subjected to a systematic analysis. The investigation is conducted using a top-down analysis that begins with a macroscopic examination of the electric motor and concludes with a microscopic analysis of individual components at the power electronics, transmission, stator, and rotor levels. The collected and analysed data is then compared with existing data on electric motors from European and U.S. vehicle manufacturers to identify similarities and differences in product design and related manufacturing processes. The main contribution of this study is thus an extended and updated dataset that builds on an existing benchmarking framework and available data.