Rare earth-free electric motors, R13 Technology's challenge to made in China

Electric car rotors that rotate without rare earths inside, but by exploiting the magnetic field generated by the stator part of the motor via electric commands given through dedicated electronics. This is the revolutionary solution proposed by R13 Technology to free the automotive world from Chinese supremacy, which controls 99% of the rare earth market and, in particular, of high-performance permanent magnets for motors. It all stems from the collaboration between the Abruzzo-based start-up, founded in 2014 as a spin-off of the University of L'Aquila and now a fully-fledged SME, and the university's Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, within which a working group, led by Professor Marco Villani, has optimised the development of reluctance electric motors. "In partnership with Jaguar Land Rover and other automotive giants,' explains Prof. Fabrizio Ciancetta, co-founder of R13 Technology and now a lecturer at the University of L'Aquila, 'as part of a EUR 6 million European project, we have developed all the electronics capable of using this technology, which does away with rare earths, and the sophisticated control system, which uses an algorithm to turn the rotor. In practice, the reluctance motor built by DIIIE was driven by the powertrain designed, built and tested in-house. The resulting power of 400kVA and 18,000 rpm meets the requirements for the efficiency of a premium electric motor. But the team of 12 engineers designing in L'Aquila's R&S area, within the spaces of the Technopole, occupied until a few months ago by the research and innovation centre of the Chinese of ZTE, are developing even more powerful and innovative prototypes on behalf of new customers: "The applications for the system created are many: just think of the entire automotive sector, the naval sector and traditional traction that uses endothermic powertrains, which can take advantage of cutting-edge technology made in Italy capable of supplying all the power required," explains Ciancetta.

In 10 years, R13 Technology has continuously updated its core business. Founded for the design of electric drives, i.e. the entire electronic part to move an engine, and to field technologies for the measurement and testing of avionic systems, today it moves in different areas thanks to its multidisciplinary skills: from feasibility studies to the realisation and validation of prototypes, from electric drives to the custom design of electric motors up to the control software of a skateboard used for last mile mobility. In between, there is a project for monitoring vital parameters through wearable devices worn by operators while carrying out their work activities, and the design of intelligent devices to be applied to personal protective equipment, such as helmets or work boots, useful for monitoring any incorrect behaviour that then causes accidents on construction sites.

"We started out as manufacturing-oriented researchers and today we are an all-round consultancy company, able to go from drawing on paper to production," explains the sole administrator, Flavio D'Innocenzo, a former doctoral student at the University of L'Aquila and also on the board of the founders of R13 Technology, which three years ago set up the production site, located in San Giovanni Teatino, where an automatic assembly line for electronic boards for the automotive, medical and industrial sectors is operational. The industrial plan for the next three years envisages tripling the turnover, from 1 to 3 million, the number of employees, from the current 12 to 30, mainly drawing engineers from the University of L'Aquila, and arriving at three production lines.