Hyundai Motor and Kia Unveil Innovative Motor System Achieving Both High Output and Efficiency

'2-Stage Motor System' Wins Presidential Award
Voltage Increased by Expanding to 12 Semiconductor Devices

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia announced on November 10 that they recently released a detailed technical video on their YouTube channel introducing the '2-Stage Motor System,' which received the highest honor, the Presidential Award, at last year's 'Korea Technology Awards.'

Hyundai Motor Company Unveils Exclusive '2-Stage Motor System' for Electric Vehicles

This video was created to help the general public easily understand the advanced motor drive control technology applied to electric vehicles. According to the video, when an electric vehicle's motor drive system is designed primarily for high output, it has limitations in terms of efficiency during urban driving. To overcome this, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia focused on the role of the inverter.

While conventional inverters use six switches made of silicon carbide semiconductor devices, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia developed a new system by adding six silicon power semiconductor switches, creating a total of twelve switches. As a result, the voltage applicable to the motor has been increased by up to 70% compared to previous systems, leading to enhanced output.

During everyday driving, only the original six switches are used to maintain efficiency, while in high-speed and high-output situations, all twelve switches are utilized to deliver powerful and stable performance.

However, simply doubling the number of switches did not solve all the challenges, as the range of control increased with the number of switches. To address this, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia implemented proprietary control techniques and mode transition (the operation of switching circuits or systems in electrical and mechanical engineering) control algorithms, enabling seamless and natural transitions between each mode.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have filed a total of 47 patents for the core technology of the 2-Stage Motor System in countries including Korea, the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.

A Hyundai Motor Company official stated, "The 2-Stage Motor System has received positive reviews after being applied to the Kia EV6 GT, Hyundai Ioniq 5N, Ioniq 6N, Ioniq 9, and the All-New Nexo. We plan to expand the application of this technology to future electric vehicles."