Axial Flux Motor Powers Supercars to New Heights

Electric motor company YASA, acquired by Mercedes-Benz in 2021, is transitioning its breakthrough high-density axial-flux technology from exclusive hybrid supercars to mass-market performance vehicles. The company’s latest prototype motor generates a peak 750 kilowatts (1,005 horsepower) while weighing only 12.7 kilograms (27.9 pounds). This yields a power density of 59 kilowatts per kilogram, which the company claims is an unofficial world record and approximately three times the efficiency of current leading radial-flux designs, including those used by Tesla. Daimler is actively retrofitting a factory in Berlin to produce up to 100,000 of these compact, powerful motors annually for deployment in upcoming Mercedes-AMG electric vehicles, marking the first time this high-performance technology will be used in mass production.