The basic principle of the axial-flux motor was developed by the British electric motor specialist YASA, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG since July 2021. The compact motor design allows for greater flexibility in powertrain packaging. Compared to conventional electric motors, this innovative drive system offers higher continuous power output and higher torque. This enables even demanding driving performance to be reproduced very frequently.
How it works: In the axial-flux motor, the electromagnetic flux runs parallel to the motor's axis of rotation. In a conventional electric motor, it moves perpendicular to the axis of rotation. Key components of the axial-flux motor are designed as narrow disks: Two rotors sandwich the stator on the left and right. This arrangement – also known as an H-arrangement – of stator and rotors enables optimal coupling of the magnetic flux to the rotors via the magnetic field generated by the stator. In the new Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé, this combination is only just under nine centimeters wide at the front axle; the two engines at the rear axle each measure only around eight centimeters wide.
