Meet The Tiny 1,340 HP Electric Motor Driving The Hyperloop

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It’s a small thing, when you see it. It’s not quite 18″ (46 cm) across and just a few inches thick, but packed inside it is enough power to blast a vehicle from zero to 155 MPH (249 kph) in mere seconds. Officially, it’s the QFM-360-X, but you can call it the HyperPower Quantum Force electric motor. And you can expect to see it powering Elon Musk’s Hyperloop in the near future.

Hyperpower Technologies Hyperloop
QFM-360-X Electric Motor (image courtesy of HyperForce)

Reading the specs on HyperPower’s electric motor is a dizzying experience. Each 18″ (46 cm) by what looks like less than 4″ (10 cm) motor reportedly puts out a megawatt of power. That’s 1,340 HP, and HyperPower has developed the motor so it can be arranged in a compact “10 motor” common shaft engine that puts out an almost unbelievable 13,400 (thirteen-thousand four-hundred) HP.

That’s that’s a whole lot of horsepower.

To prove the concept and help develop the motors’ durability further, HyperPower is taking its Mighty Mouse engines racing. They’ll be campaigning a Top Fuel style dragster throughout Australia that’s been fitted with a four-motor common shaft arrangement that makes over 5,000 HP.

All that power translates to a 0-320 MPH (530 kph) time of just 3.7 seconds, on its way to a top speed of about half the speed of sound. All of which should be more than enough performance to put the fear of an electric god into one or two internal-combustion cars out there, don’t you think?

5000 HP electric dragster
5000 HP electric dragster (image courtesy HyperPower)

“This motor is the culmination of my career’s effort and a notable milestone for our team to now have the X-series prototype in production,” says Michael Fragomeni, Founder and Managing Director of HyperPower. “With volume assembly running in parallel. [This is] our planet’s first brutally race-specific electric motor, and we’ve innovated many novel technical attributes to achieve such.”

With so much power available from such a small package, global development of Musk’s Hyperloop project — which seemed pretty fanciful at first, if not outright farcical — is literally accelerating. “There are companies are dealing with us on using the motor with Hyperloop projects,” Fragomeni told New Atlas, from the company’s headquarters in northern Perth. “There’s (no other motor) in the world that can do what ours does with the power, weight saving and energy charge rate centered around aerospace engineering and outcomes.”

You can read more about HyperPower’s QFM-360-X electric motor in the company’s official press release, below. Then, let us know what you think about riding in a Hyperloop pod and having HyperPower’s motors blast you from 0-60 MPH in a fraction of a second in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

Next-Generation Electric Motor Enters Production in Western Australia


Igniting Growth in Australia’s Future Industries Capability

Designed to propel Hyperloop, Hypercars and Aerospace, HyperPower Technologies’ Quantum Force model electric motor is the World’s First Extreme-Duty Performance eMachine (electric motor/generator).

Minted the “QFM-360-X” with its diameter at 430 millimeters (17″) and a power output of up to 1 MegaWatt (1,340 HorsePower), this motor eclipses all electric motorsport offerings to date and well-specified for propulsion of future transport systems, such as Hyperloop and Light Rail. The HyperPower Quantum Force eMotor is designed with reliability and field serviceability at the fore, and is modular to suit many applications – being scalable in a common-shaft array to 10 MW (13,400 HP).

Innovative features of the motor include:

●   ReVolutionary Power-to-Mass;
●   Ultra-High Power Output and Efficiency;
●   Extra-Low-Voltage Drive System – for industry roll-out of non-lethal EVs;
●   Quiet, responsive, with repeatable safety and intelligence.

Michael Fragomeni, Founder and Managing Director of HyperPower Pty Ltd based in Western Australia said, “This motor is the culmination of my career’s effort and a notable milestone for our team to now have the X-series prototype in production, with volume assembly running in parallel. Our planet’s first brutally race-specific electric motor, and we’ve innovated many novel technical attributes to achieve such”.

“With national and global in-bound interests establishing, we’re developing partnerships in the uptake of our ultra-high-power propulsion components into commercial integration and continuing the expansion of our in-house production and intensive R&D programs”. Through developing novel intellectual property in componentry, academia, and production infrastructure, HyperPower’s S.T.E.M. engagement with student interns and post-graduates brings exposure to emerging roles in the clean-tech industry; from exotic composites to additive manufacturing (3D printing), and rapid mechatronic prototyping to tooling and workflow.

“Aligning with our Federal Government’s focus on growing Future Automotive, Manufacturing, and Space industries, our growth of engineering through innovation and increasing production infrastructure develops greater Australian sovereign advanced manufacturing capabilities as we continue through commercialization, and brings forward jobs opportunities both locally and nationally,” Mr. Fragomeni said.

Source | Images: HyperPower, via Facebook and New Atlas.


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