Saietta Group has expanded its product offering for the light-duty electric vehicle sector. The Group’s Axial Flux Technology (AFT) electric motor range has been enhanced and expanded with integrated power electronics, a modular gearbox and a bespoke axle architecture in a direct response to growing demand. This enables providing light-duty vehicle manufacturers with a fully integrated one-stop-shop e-mobility system solution.
The acquisition of e-Traction in November 2021 – an industry leader in electric drivetrains and high-voltage power electronics for heavy-duty vehicles and bus applications – has been key in Saietta advancing the development of its in-house developed integrated inverter for the AFT motor range.
Commenting on Saietta’s expansion and enhanced AFT product range, Wicher (Vic) Kist, chief executive officer of Saietta, said, “The acquisition of e-Traction has enabled us to reach this point sooner than expected and customer engagement has convinced us that this is the best commercial opportunity for delivering our AFT technology to market. Owning the power electronics and software development capabilities should allow us to help our customers to get their vehicle platforms to market faster.”
Based in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, e-Traction’s array of innovative technologies – including a proprietary software platform, powertrain control systems, an online diagnostics suite, corresponding manufacturing capabilities and its leadership in automotive power electronics intellectual property – has helped to inform Saietta’s latest AFT product upgrades. As a result, this newly added capability to the AFT range means that inverter and powertrain controls may be supplied to end customers as a fully integrated solution.
New order wins
Building on its recent success, Saietta has won new global contracts from the light-duty vehicle sector for its integrated e-drive systems that are based on the advanced AFT 140 motors. This includes Ayro in the USA, Electric Assisted Vehicles in the UK, an established OEM of lightweight vehicles in India and a new vehicle platform developer in Europe.
In addition, Saietta is developing proof-of-concept e-drive system designs for two further potential high volume light-duty commercial vehicle customers in India. Although still at a prototype stage, and with further milestones yet to be met, collectively these activities have the potential to develop into volumes of more than 87,000 integrated AFT 140 e-drive systems per annum.
Last year Saietta established Propel, a standalone technology division whose aim is to deliver advanced next-generation electric propulsion solutions for the marine sector. It has both developed an integrated e-drive system and generated 1.5 million euro revenue in its first year of operations. This has further underscored Saietta’s ability to leverage AFT technology into commercially successful vertically integrated e-drivetrain systems and get them to market within months.
Kist added that, “We believe that this approach will enable Saietta to continue to grow into one of the world’s leading light-duty and heavy-duty e-drive businesses and be a showcase of UK and European engineering and production excellence at this key stage in the transformation of the global automotive industry.”