Electromobility

Electric motors play an increasingly important role in mobility. There are more and more cars that are electrically or partially electrically powered. On the other hand, trains have been using electric drives for much longer. The first electrically powered trains were built in the 19th century.

In the car

At the beginning of the development of the car, the question arose as to which type of drive would establish itself as the standard. As one would now suspect, it was clear to rely on the combustion engine, but this was by no means the case, as can be seen from the following figures. In 1900, 40% of all cars in the USA were steam-powered, 38% were electric and only 22% were gasoline. The company A. Flocken manufactured the first four-wheeled passenger vehicle with electric drive in Germany as early as 1888. It didn't take long for the electric car to become a niche product due to its limited range. From then on, the electric motor was only used for add-on parts such as the starter.

New research and developments in the field of battery technology as well as the ever-increasing concern for the environment brought electric cars back onto the agenda. The big boom in electric cars came with the introduction of the Tesla roadster. Nowadays almost every car manufacturer has one or more electric cars in their range.

Which electric motor is used in the car?

Here every manufacturer has its own concept. For example, Tesla uses frequency converter-fed permanent-magnet synchronous motors for the Model 3, with which they can achieve a drive power of up to 513 hp in the top equipment. But Tesla has already relied on three-phase asynchronous motors such as in the Model S or X. Renault, for example, used a different concept for the ZOE. This relies on a separately excited synchronous motor.

In trains

In public transport, the potential of electrically powered trains and trams was recognized early on. Because, unlike with electric cars, no large batteries are needed here because rails and overhead lines can be electrified. This means that electricity is always available to the trains. How great the potential really is became clear in 1903 when the companies AEG and Siemens presented their experimental electric railcars, which had already exceeded the 200 km / h mark. In 2007, the current speed record for electrically powered trains was set. This train (TGV-POS unit 4402) drove over 570km / h.

In ships

Also in the area of ​​propulsion technology for ships, a lot is developing in the direction of electrically powered ships. However, it is still the absolute exception that ships are purely electric. The world's first all-electric ferry was presented in Norway in 2013. But still, electric motors often provide the propulsion on modern ships. In order to generate the electrical energy for the engines, generators are driven by gas or diesel engines. The two most famous transatlantic liners powered by electric motors would be the Queen Elisabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2. The Queen Elisabeth 2 was converted to a diesel-electric drive in 1986. Here, the two motors together deliver an output of 88 megawatts. The Queen Mary 2 has four electric motors which together have an output of 86 megawatts.