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Forbes
a day ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
YASA: UK Company Leading The Electrified Performance Car Revolution
The Ferrari SF90 Stradale takes advantage of YASA's electric motor technology. Electric cars predate those running on fossil fuel, but development was mostly dormant for a century after the combustion car took over in the early 1900s. The EV as we currently know it has only been around for a little over a decade. There's a lot of technological development taking place now, however. While most of the attention has been on batteries, motor innovation is extremely important too. One of the leading companies driving new motor technology is the UK's YASA, purchased by Mercedes in 2021. I talked to Tim Woolmer, Founder and CEO of YASA, about what makes his company special. YASA Technology: Available In An Electrified Supercar Near You The YASA name may not be familiar, but its electric motors are the secret sauce behind hybrid supercars including the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and 296 GTB, Lamborghini Revuelto and Temerario, McLaren Artura, and Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E-Performance. The latter is particularly relevant because of YASA's ownership change. This will also be the brand of the first all-electric car to use YASA motors. 'AMG has spoken about its new architecture, and the first car launched will be high performance electric vehicle,' says Woolmer. 'It's going to be a lot of fun, but it will be a different clientele than a mid-engine supercar.' YASA's focus will remain high-performance cars, but the company always had wider goals. 'Our core mission is to accelerate electrification. Our customers today have a good fit with the USPs of the product. They appreciate the size, light weight, repeatable performance, and efficiency.' The Lamborghini Revuelto is another electrified supercar using YASA's motors. Originally, the YASA motor was extremely low volume, used in halo hypercars such as the Jaguar C-X75, Koenigsegg Regera and a land speed record car produced by Lola-Drayson. Now YASA is increasing its production capacity considerably. In 2024, the company produced 14,000 motors, and with a new facility in Bicester Motion, this will increase to 25,000 motors annually for 2025-27. As part of the Mercedes relationship, its motors will also be produced in Berlin by Mercedes-AMG itself. 'We're going down this journey of commoditizing the product, going to high volumes, and reducing costs,' says Woomer. 'I'm absolutely convinced that the technology has got a perfect USP in the sports car industry. But as we move to new architectures, it could be commoditized to wider volume appeal. Lightweight is great for everything.' YASA Motors Mean The Yoke's On You The clue to YASA innovation is in its name, which stands for Yokeless And Segmented Armature. The motors use a different design to conventional radial flux systems, which almost all other electric motors employ. They don't have an iron core (or yoke), while the rotating part of the motor is segmented. This is an axial flux system, with permanent magnet rotors on either side of the electromagnetic stator. The result is around three times the torque density per kg compared to a radial flux motor, and a considerable reduction in raw material usage. Where a Tesla motor might have around 30kg of iron, a YASA motor only requires 3kg for the same power and torque. It's also a quarter of the size with a third of the copper. While this is useful for any electrified vehicle, weight saving alongside high power are particularly beneficial for performance vehicles. YASA's Axial Flux design is much lighter and more compact than a traditional Radial Flux motor. 'There are no downsides to it,' says Woolmer. 'You can take 200 kilograms directly out of a vehicle. Then you could start to see electric vehicles on par or even becoming lighter than their internal combustion engine equivalents. That's a real problem we must deal with, because EVs have a weight problem. They're up to 400kg heavier than a regular car.' YASA can produce motors from 100hp to 1,000hp, depending on the application. Most of its projects so far have been tailored to a specific customer's needs, rather than vice versa. However, this flexibility means YASA is ready to produce motors for all-electric cars. 'The first pure EVs going to production will be with AMG,' says Woolmer. 'The hybrids have been a wonderful preparation for that, because the motor is very similar.' The YASA motor used by Ferrari. The British Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) has been a key factor in YASA's growth. This is a joint UK government and industry-funded organization supporting the development of low-carbon propulsion technologies for the automotive industry to accelerate the transition to Net Zero. 'I don't think I would be exaggerating if I said I genuinely don't think this factory would exist without the APC,' says Woolmer. However, the Mercedes-Benz acquisition has enabled YASA to take its technology to a different level commercially. 'YASA was never looking to be acquired,' says Woolmer. 'But Mercedes put forward a compelling case for the purchase. They wanted us to be the speed boat; they didn't want to destroy our culture. They wanted us to keep our innovation and our brand. In return, they've got the industrial might to invest in the technology, which they've done both here and in and in the factory in Berlin. Four years later, they were true to all those statements. They've invested a lot in the assets, giving us a big new facility at Bicester Motion. That was a £70 million investment, plus a big investment in the technology to scale it up. They have been the perfect scaling partner.' YASA's UK Tech Triumph Despite the factory in Berlin, YASA will still be a UK-based company. 'We will remain fully British with our headquarters in Bicester Motion,' says Woolmer. 'All the R&D on the technology is happening here in the UK. Mercedes has manufacturing satellites all around the world, but manufacturing is not where the core Intellectual Property resides. The aspiration is to increase manufacturing the UK, not just do R&D here.' YASA will continue to develop its technology and build motors in the UK. The UK will also continue to manufacture for customers other than Mercedes, where Berlin will solely serve AMG. But now YASA has much more scale available. 'Ten years ago, we struggled to make 150 motors,' says Woolmer. 'Now, if we got a contract for 50,000 motors, we would know what to do.' YASA isn't sitting on its laurels and is already looking towards the next development. 'The game changer will be in-wheel motor technology,' says Woolmer. 'Renault launched the 5 Turbo 3E that will be the first production vehicle with in-wheel motors, although it's a limited series.' Donut Lab is another company chasing this possibility. 'We're not focused on it yet, but in the future, we will talk about it a lot more. We've got technology that can radically transform the way we design vehicles, and that really is empowered by the size and the weight of the motors. People have been trying to crack in-wheel motors for 25 years, and it's hard, but based off all the learning we've had so far, we think we've got the tech to do it.'
Auto Express
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Lightweight British electric motors to power Mercedes-AMG's 1,000bhp super-saloon
Unique British electric motors that slash size and weight and produce more power than rival machines are the heart of Mercedes-AMG's new EV super-saloon – and Auto Express has the lowdown from their inventor. Oxford graduate Tim Woolmer founded Yasa in 2009 to commercialise the axial flux electric motor he designed for his PhD. Almost a decade later, he clinched a deal for Yasa to supply Ferrari's SF90 hybrid, and last week Auto Express toured the all-new £12million Oxfordshire factory also producing e-motors for Lamborghini and McLaren. In a great British success story, Yasa motors provide the electric punch for hybrid supercars the Ferrari 296 GTB, Lamborghini Revuelto and Temarario and McLaren Artura. The new factory is scaling up to produce 25,000 motors a year. Another major breakthrough comes this summer when Yasa starts powering its first pure electric production car, the AMG GT 4-Door – although its motors will be produced in Berlin following Mercedes' acquisition of Yasa in 2021. Advertisement - Article continues below 'The first cars we launch with Mercedes will be full EVs and we're really excited,' chief technology officer (CTO) Woolmer exclusively told Auto Express. 'I've been driven in one – it's going to be fantastic.' Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The AMG axial flux motors will be similar in design to the ones that power hybrid Lamborghini front axles. Woolmer's big breakthrough was to shrink the motor's stator (the stationary part generating a magnetic field around which the rotors spin), by repackaging a radial motor's long, cylindrical copper windings into 18 stubby windings roughly the shape and size of orange segments. They're arranged in a thin disc shape which gives a broad surface area for magnetic interaction and the space to fit a rotor on both sides of the stator, adding up to a dramatic boost in torque. 'When we did the [initial] maths on the new design, it showed it would give you about three times the torque density and therefore power density, and its unique proposition is being one-third the size and weight of any other motor technology on the planet,' said the CTO. Each AMG motor can generate around 480bhp and 800Nm of torque – but it's only 65mm long and weighs just 24kg. As with key rival the Porsche Taycan, Mercedes will be able to mix and match the motors to offer rear- and all-wheel drive, with a likely maximum of three motors packing well in excess of 1,000bhp. Whereas the hybrid motors are limited by their adjoining engine's speed, the AMG motors will be able to spin faster. 'They've been scaled up to match the higher torque, power and speed required in an EV compared to a hybrid, and obviously higher voltage as well,' said Woolmer. Yasa motors' breakthrough design will also endow the AMG with a weight advantage, boosting range and agility. And future generations will go further, with reduced mass and an exponential improvement in harnessing regenerative braking energy to unlock smaller batteries yet longer-running high-performance EVs. 'I think we've reached peak battery size,' said the CTO. '[Ultimately if] we can take hundreds of kilograms out of the mass of these vehicles, that starts to transform their behaviour. We're really battling to get the weight of electric vehicles down: they're fundamentally too heavy today.' Click here for our list of the fastest electric cars in the world ... Find a car with the experts EV affordability alarm! Running costs are £6k higher than for petrol cars, say car clubs EV affordability alarm! Running costs are £6k higher than for petrol cars, say car clubs Running costs for car share club EVs are £6k higher than ICE equivalents according to new data Bargain prices drive used car sales boom, but new cars struggle to sell Bargain prices drive used car sales boom, but new cars struggle to sell Demand for pre-owned cars beats pre-pandemic levels as buyers seek out bargains BYD beats Dacia, Honda and Citroen: Chinese EV giant already outsells 'big' UK brands BYD beats Dacia, Honda and Citroen: Chinese EV giant already outsells 'big' UK brands EV sales were up slightly last month year-on-year, but overall car sales were down as buyers tried to dodge increased road tax
