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Glossary | EV Motors & Systems
What are EV Motors & Systems ?
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Batteries dominate the conversation around electric vehicles, but motors are equally central to the technology. An EV motor converts electrical energy from the battery into the mechanical force that drives the vehicle with greater efficiency and lower emissions than a combustion engine.
Understanding how motors work, and how the market around them is evolving, is essential to understanding the EV supply chain.
This page will delve into the history of EV motors, their types, market landscape, key players and manufacturers, current market challenges, and outlook. We will also take a look at semiconductors, which are becoming increasingly important as the market trends towards automation.
History of EV motors
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Electric motors predate the modern car. Early examples appeared in the early 1800s, but battery limitations made them impractical for vehicles. That changed in the late 19th century, Robert Davidson built an electric vehicle in 1837, and Thomas Parker produced one of the first commercially available electric cars in 1884. By the turn of the 20th century, electric, steam and petrol vehicles were competing for dominance.
What caused the decline of early electric vehicles?
By the 1920s, cheaper petrol, longer range, and mass production had tipped the balance firmly towards combustion engines. Electric vehicles largely disappeared from roads for decades. The oil crises of the 1970s prompted a first wave of renewed interest, and the commercialisation of lithium-ion batteries in the 1990s laid the groundwork for the modern EV era.
What constitutes an EV motor?
At its core, an EV motor has three main components. The stator is the fixed outer part copper wire coils wound around an iron core which generates a magnetic field when current passes through it. The rotor sits inside the stator and spins in response to that field; a shaft connects it to the vehicle's drivetrain, transferring rotational force to the wheels. The housing encloses both, protecting them from dust, moisture, and heat, and provides the mounting structure and cooling channels needed for thermal management.
What types of EV motors are there?
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EV motors are predominantly alternating current (AC) machines, divided into two families:
Synchronous motors run at a fixed speed tied to the AC supply frequency, regardless of load.
Asynchronous, or induction motors run slightly slower than the stator's rotating field a difference known as 'slip' which increases as the load rises.
At Benchmark, we focus on four motor types:
Motor Type | Category | Key Advantage | Notable Users | Rare Earth Dependent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) | Synchronous | High efficiency & power density; ~80–85% market share | Most major automakers | Yes (neodymium, samarium) |
Asynchronous / Induction Motor | Asynchronous | Simple, reliable, efficient at high speeds | Tesla (earlier models) | No |
Externally Excited Synchronous Motor (EESM) | Synchronous | Rare-earth-free design | BMW, Renault, Mercedes-Benz | No |
Axial Flux Motor | Synchronous (PMSM variant) | Ultra-compact, very high power density | Ferrari, Koenigsegg, Yangwang | Yes |
Challenges facing Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs)
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As already established, PMSMs currently dominate the EV motor market and are projected to do so for the foreseeable near to medium future. But despite their advantages, there are several drawbacks associated with the use of PMSMs which the EV motor industry is looking to solve:
Cost
Rare-earth permanent magnets are the primary cost driver in PMSMs, expensive both as a material and in the precision required to embed them correctly in the rotor.
Supply chain security
Rare-earth mining and magnet production is heavily concentrated. China controls 89% of global permanent magnet production capacity as of 2025 a significant exposure for manufacturers outside the country.
In 2025, China introduced sweeping export controls covering rare earth elements and products that contain them, underscoring the geopolitical dimension of this dependency. Benchmark's Rare Earth Price Assessments track praseodymium-neodymium (PrNd) oxide and other critical materials used in EV motor magnets.
Environmental challenges
Rare-earth ores sometimes contain radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium, making extraction environmentally sensitive and subject to strict regulatory oversight in many jurisdictions.
Alternatives to PMSMs
While PMSMs continue to dominate the market, concerns around magnet supply and production costs have driven the search for alternatives. Several options are now being explored.
These alternatives fall into two broad groups: magnet-free designs, including induction motors, EESMs and reluctance motors; and motors that use lower-cost magnet materials, such as ferrite.
So far, none have come close to displacing PMSMs at scale. Ferrite magnets are much cheaper, but they are weaker and less thermally stable, while magnet-free designs typically involve trade-offs in efficiency and power density.
Barring a material breakthrough, Benchmark expects rare-earth PMSMs to remain dominant for the foreseeable future. Demand for rare earths in EV motors grew 16% year-on-year in 2025, reaching 43 kt.
What types of vehicle platforms are used in EVs?
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EV motors operate as part of a broader vehicle platform the integrated architecture of chassis, battery pack, thermal systems, power electronics, and software that underpins one or more vehicle models. Currently, EV platforms come in three main categories:
Skateboard platforms are the most common EV platform design types, consisting of a battery pack housed in the vehicle floor, with motors on the axles. This design type maximises interior space and lowers the vehicle centre of gravity, thereby increasing vehicle stability and handling. This platform type is popularly used by Tesla.
Modular platforms are engineered to support multiple vehicle types sedans, SUVs, vans on a shared architecture, with configurable battery sizes and motor arrangements. Volkswagen's MEB platform is the most prominent example, underpinning vehicles across the VW Group and used under licence by Ford and joint-venture partners in China.
Custom platforms, high-performance and luxury EVs typically use bespoke platforms engineered for weight distribution, high-speed stability, and handling precision.
Platform voltage is typically categorised as either 400V (covering 300–500V operating range) or 800V (600–900V). Most EVs currently run on 400V architectures, but 800V adoption is growing, driven by its advantages in power output, faster charging capability, and overall motor performance.
Silicon carbide vs silicon inverters
The inverter is a critical component it converts DC from the battery to AC for the motor, regulates speed and torque, enables regenerative braking, and protects against overheating.
Silicon carbide (SiC) inverters are increasingly preferred over standard silicon units, offering higher thermal tolerance and switching efficiency advantages that align well with 800V architectures. Adoption will be partly constrained by the pace of 800V platform uptake, though Tesla already deploys SiC inverters across its 400V vehicles.
What role do semiconductors play in EVs?
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To understand the automotive semiconductor industry, it helps to look at the three main parts of the semiconductor supply chain: equipment, raw materials, and downstream production.
Equipment
A small number of companies dominate the supply of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. ASML is the leading supplier of advanced photolithography machines, which are essential for producing chips.
Raw materials
Semiconductor production depends on ultra-high-purity raw materials, especially silicon wafers. Japanese companies play a major role in supplying these materials, reflecting the high barriers to entry in this part of the market.
Downstream: design, manufacturing and assembly
Further along the value chain, companies follow three main business models. Fabless firms such as Qualcomm, Nvidia and MediaTek design chips but outsource production. Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), including Intel and Samsung, handle both design and manufacturing in-house. Pure-play foundries, led by TSMC, manufacture chips for other companies and are central to advanced semiconductor production.
What are the key challenges facing the automotive semiconductor industry?
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The automotive semiconductor sector faces several challenges as chipmakers adapt from consumer electronics to automotive applications. These include pressure on profitability, supply chain reliability and wider industry dynamics.
Transition challenges: lower margins and longer timelines
Automotive semiconductors are a demanding part of the chip market. Compared with consumer electronics, they offer lower margins, require stricter safety standards and involve longer development cycles. These economics can discourage some manufacturers from prioritising automotive customers, increasing supply chain risk for vehicle production.
Challenges in automotive semiconductor design
Automotive semiconductors must meet specific requirements for durability, safety, and reliability that go beyond those of consumer electronics:
High safety standards: Chips used in vehicles must perform flawlessly under extreme conditions, necessitating stricter manufacturing and testing protocols.
Cost vs efficiency: While cutting-edge technology is not always necessary, achieving functional efficiency at a lower cost remains a challenge, especially for emerging markets.
Broader industry-wide talent shortages and supply chain constraints
The supply chain's geographic fragmentation creates systemic vulnerability. Each region tends to dominate a specific segment equipment, materials, design, or fabrication and no single country controls the full stack.
Even ASML, the dominant force in lithography equipment, imports 85% of its machine components. Geopolitical tensions and trade restrictions have turned these interdependencies into a source of strategic risk, with material access and production continuity both exposed.
These vulnerabilities emphasise the urgent need for cooperation and resilience-building in the semiconductor industry.
The future of EV motors and systems
PMSMs will remain the dominant motor technology for the foreseeable future, but the pressures around rare-earth supply chains are real and intensifying. Benchmark expects demand for rare earths in EV motors to keep growing as adoption accelerates, rising 16% in 2025 alone to reach 43 kt. The search for alternatives continues, but no current technology matches the PMSM's combination of efficiency and power density at scale.
Beyond motors, the broader shift towards 800V platforms and SiC inverters will continue to improve vehicle performance and charging speed. And as vehicles become more software-defined, semiconductors will play an ever-larger role in determining what EVs can do making the resilience of that supply chain a strategic concern for the whole industry.
Explore Benchmark's Rare Earths intelligence for comprehensive data, forecasts, and analytics on neodymium, praseodymium, and permanent magnet supply chains driving the EV motor industry.
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General FAQs
Everything you need to know about EV Motors & Systems. If you'd like to learn more about our EV & Battery service:
Contact UsWhat types of motors are used in electric vehicles?
What types of motors are used in electric vehicles?
Electric vehicles use four main motor types. PMSMs (permanent magnet synchronous motors) are the most common, holding around 80–85% of the market, thanks to their high efficiency and power density. They use permanent magnets made from rare earth elements typically neodymium or samarium embedded in the rotor.
Induction motors work without permanent magnets, using electromagnetic induction instead. They are simpler and more robust, and were Tesla's original choice before the company moved to PMSM-based configurations.
EESMs (externally excited synchronous motors) also avoid permanent magnets, generating the rotor's magnetic field from an external power source. They are the preferred option for rare-earth-free designs, used by BMW, Renault, and Mercedes-Benz.
Axial flux motors are an emerging high-performance variant offering exceptional power density in a compact form. YASA's units power vehicles including the Ferrari SF90, Lamborghini Revuelto, and Koenigsegg Regera.