Nidec's EV traction motor system takes home the Nihon Keizai Shimbun Grand Prize Award in the 2019 Nikkei Superior Products and Services Awards
The Nikkei Superior Products and Services Awards, established in 1982 and now in its 38th year, is an annual event that recognizes outstanding products and services. Nominees are selected by Nikkei, Inc., publisher of the world's most circulated financial newspaper (The Nikkei), from approximately 20,000 new products and services launched during the year.
This year's winners were determined through comprehensive evaluation based on six different criteria: 1. Technology, 2. Cost-effectiveness, 3. Contribution to the company's financial results, 4. Growth potential, 5. Uniqueness and 6. Industrial/societal impact. Specifically, the judging committee highlighted the E-Axle's "compact size, high product quality and low cost due to in-house production of key components" as well as the product's "potential to dominate the global market."
Nidec's fully integrated E-Axle that combines a motor, inverter and gears became the first such system in the world to enter mass-production in April 2019. Weighing in at only 87 kg (approximately half the weight of an equivalent internal combustion engine), the compact and light-weight system achieves a power output of 150 kW and a maximum torque output of 3,900 Nm.
Nidec's E-Axle has already been adopted by Chinese automakers including GAC NE (GAC MOTOR’s new energy vehicle arm). Moving forward, Nidec intends to leverage this experience to break into the global market; in the near future, construction of a traction motor factory in Poland is slated to begin, and the company is also looking into strengthening its production capacity for the American market.
