A lighter motor for tomorrow's electric car

DURING THE FIRST DECADE OF THE 1900s, 38 percent of all cars in the United States ran on electricity, a share that declined to practically zero as the internal combustion engine rose to dominance in the 1920s. Today's drive to save energy and reduce pollution has given the electric car new life, but its high cost and limited range of travel combine to keep sales figures low. Most attempts to solve these problems involve improving the batteries. Of course, better electric storage systems-whether batteries or fuel cells-must continue to be part of any strategy for improving electric vehicles, but there's plenty of room for improvement as well in another fundamental vehicle component: the motor. For the past four years we have been working on a new concept for an electric traction motor, the kind used in electric cars and trucks. Our latest design improves efficiency quite a bit in comparison with that ofconventional designs-enough to make electric vehicles more practical and affordable.