n NEWS September 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com 10 A GERMAN DEVELOPER of high-performance electric motors that it claims are lighter, smaller and more efficient than rivals, has raised €3m in an oversubscribed round of pre-seed funding. Munich-based Hyperdrives’ motors use a hollow-conductor cooling technology that results in record power densities at a “dramatically lower cost”, without needing exotic materials, novel motor layouts, or new production processes. Hyperdrives, founded in 2021, will use the new funding to convert its “strong customer pipeline” into commercial projects, validate the durability of its motors, and prepare its manufacturing processes for an industrial rollout. Most motors are cooled indirectly via water jackets or oil spray, leaving hot spots in the windings that limit their currenthandling capabilities and compromise their efficiency. Hyperdrives cools the insides of the copper conductors using a low‑viscosity dielectric that flows through channels in the hollow hairpins, removing heat at its source. According to the company, this enables continuous current densities up to three times higher than today’s series-produced motors. The lower motor temperatures also help to reduce material degradation and extend motor lives. Hyperdrives compares the effect of its technology to that of a turbocharger on a combustion engine – you get a higher output from the same hardware, without fundamentally new designs or production concepts. Previous attempts at using hollow‑conductor cooling have been complex, expensive, and prone to reliability issues. Hyperdrives claims that its patented design and manufacturing processes are robust, leak‑proof, and compatible with existing hairpin production lines. “Our breakthrough is making hollowconductor cooling work for mass production,” says Hyperdrives’ co-founder and CTO, Michael Numberger. “By cooling directly inside the copper conductor, we achieve up to three times higher current density than today’s motors – more power in the same space, or the same power in a smaller, lighter package. “Hyperdrives is turbocharging electrification with the best performanceto-cost electric motors on the market, designed for industrial-scale production,” adds co-founder and CEO, Robin Renz. “Over the past years and through three product generations, we have proven that breakthrough motor performance doesn’t require exotic materials or new production concepts. With this new funding, we will expand our team to validate lifetime durability to automotive standards, accelerate our go-to-market, and prepare for industrial-scale production.” Replacing jackets and oil sprays with hollow hairpins delivers benefits such as: n Direct coolant-to-copper contact Dielectric oil contacting the inner channel surface of each copper hairpin extracts heat immediately (without needing a double‑walled cooling jacket). n Hollow-pin topology The 1–2mm channels maximise the wetting area, achieving cooling claimed to be more than ten times better than conventional stators. n Turbulent high-velocity flow This boosts convective heat transfer, keeping copper temperatures around 80°C lower than conventional designs with equal loads, preventing hot‑spots and degradation. n Hydraulic-electrical decoupling Cooling paths are optimised independently from the electrical winding layout. n Low-viscosity fluids and low pressure drops Less than 1 bar of pressure drop across the system allows use of low‑cost, low‑power pumps. n Distributed windings Compatibility with multiple rotor topologies including designs such as synchronous reluctance motors, that don’t need rare-earth magnets. The motors are capable of continuous current densities of up to 75A/mm2 (about three times higher than usual), and system power densities (including the motor, inverter and housing) of more than 12kW/kg continuous (15kW/kg peak) – comparable to the best electric aviation systems. Hyperdrives claims that its technology will cut energy consumption by up to 10% in typical duty cycles, and reduce bills of materials by up to 40% through downsizing and eliminating costly alloys and magnets. Last year, Hyperdrives generated more than €1m in revenues without any external funding. It is currently operating two commercial models: offering turnkey systems (motor, SiC inverter and cooling) to customers with low‑to‑medium volume projects; and licencing high‑volume customers to use its technologies to produce motors using their existing hairpin stator production lines. Hyperdrives is focusing initially on transport applications, but the technology could be applied to other sectors. It is offering an 350kW peak (260kW continuous) automotive system called Hyperdrive One, with an integrated SiC drive, that weighs 36.1kg and operates at 17,000 rpm / 800V, with an efficiency of more than 96%. There is also a 19.6kg aviation variant, called Hyperdrives Ultra, that delivers 320kW peak (250kW continuous) and operates at 24,000 rpm / 800V. Matching 7kg SiC inverters can deliver 500A continuously at 800V, and can drive SynRM, PSM and IPM motors. www.hyperdrives.de €3m funding will turbocharge low-cost hollow-conductor motors Two versions of Hyperdrives’ integrated motor-drives: the 36.1kg One (left) for automotive applications; and the 19.6kg Ultra for aviation duties.
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