An article covering technology developments from Asian household appliance manufacturers noted recent advances in washing machine motors and their applicability for electric vehicles.

A performance requirement for washing machine motors is that they operate at low rpm and high torque for the wash cycle but high rpm and lower torque for the spin cycle. According to washing machine manufacturers, washing requires about six times the torque of spin-dry, but spin-dry has to rotate about 30 times faster than washing.

Manufacturers such as Toshiba, Panasonic and Hitachi are implementing variable magnet, switchable winding and dual rotor technologies to change washing machine motor characteristics between low-speed and high-speed operation. Depending on the technology used, improvements have been realized in one or more of the following areas: washing or spin-dry performance, energy consumption and quiet operation.

For example, Toshiba used variable magnets to improve washing torque by 20%, and boost spin-dry speed 1.4 times to 1700rpm as well as reduce motor power consumption by up to 16%. Toshiba expects the same technology to appear in EVs, electric motorcycles and other applications as well. Meanwhile Yaskawa Electric Corp. of Japan, a major manufacturer of industrial robots, expects to apply winding switch technology to EVs and exhibited a new type of motor at the 1st EV & HEV Drive System Technology Expo held in January 2010.

The article provides an in-depth look at the different technologies. Learn more: Techon.nikkeibp.co.jp