The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

Design of an Outer-Rotor-Type Permanent

Magnet Motor for Electric Scooter Propulsion
Systems
Byeong-Mun Song*, Ki-Chan Chang**, and Jang-Young Choi***
* Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
** Green Motor Technology, Inc., Suit #101, Kyungnam Tech Park, Kimhae, Korea
*** Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea

Abstract-- This paper proposes an outer-rotor-type outer-rotor-type permanent magnet (PM) motor. The
permanent magnet motor for electric scooter propulsion motor with 20-poles is integrated into the wheel rim on
systems. The designed motor is integrated into the wheel the tire and optimized to improve the overall performance
rim on the tire and meets the specifications of the electric to 87% efficiency at rated speed. The full design and its
scooter. The simulation using non-linear finite element aspects will be discussed with the simulation and test
analysis (FEA) method results match experimental data
results in the practical system.
obtained from the prototype 20-poles motor for electric
scooter propulsion systems. The overall efficiency achieved
87% at rated speed. The detailed test results have been II. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
presented.
A. System Requirements
Index Terms-- Outer-rotor-type motor, outer-rotor PM The motor for electric scooter propulsion systems
motor, electric scooter motor, FEA, electric vehicle should be small in size and lightweight, with emphasis on
propulsion system.
high-energy efficiency. TABLE I summarizes the system
design requirements for electric scooters. These
I. INTRODUCTION requirements are considered to design the system so that
The demand for electric scooters has been increased the scooter could drive the curb weight of 190kg with
rapidly as an attractive alternative method of 35km/h speed.
transportation that saves energy and is environmentally
friendly. The use of these scooters can improve the air TABLE I
quality by eliminating harmful emissions from the SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS OF A PROPULSION SYSTEM
gasoline and diesel engines [1]. Specifically, electric Key parameters Specifications
scooters have been popular as a new mode of Curb weight 190kg
transpiration for short distance travel. With its compact Per-charge range at 35km/h 90km
propulsion system, the scooter is useful when traffic is (City-mode)
heavy and parking space limited. Maximum speed 50km/h
Climbing capability @ 10% gradient 30km/h
Recently, advanced battery packages have extended the Climbing capability @ 20% gradient 20km/h
per-charge range up to 100 miles [2]-[3], which will Battery voltage 48V
allow scooters to be used for longer mileage trips. In spite Battery capacity 40Ah
of their many advantages, electric scooters are still at Tire diameter 416mm (90/90-10)
work in progress. Improvements in its energy density and Wheel material Aluminum
Acceleration 0-100m in 12 seconds
costs for the two components, the propulsion system and
battery, could ultimately make the scooter more
competitive in the transportation market. B. Design Considerations
In a cost-effective and reliable propulsion system, there A scooter motor should be designed with a required
have been many attempts to develop new traction motors motor torque and speed and the given size. In besides, the
that have a high torque-to-weight ratio for a given space performance of the motor should meet with the pre-
limitation [4]-[6]. It is important to develop more charging driving range at 35km/h to 90km.
efficient and reliable propulsion systems to increase their In the design, the first step is to calculate the force
driving range and overall efficiency. Battery technology propelling the scooter forward. The motor must provide
has made tremendous progress in high energy density and sufficient force to overcome the rolling resistance force
low cost so that the lithium battery will become feasible and aerodynamic drag. In addition, the motor must
for electric scooters [3]. provide the force to overcome the scooter weight acting
This paper focuses on the development of a high on the slope and to accelerate the scooter. The following
performance electric scooter propulsion system with an force equations are applied in the design [7].

978-1-4244-5393-1/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 2736

 The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

1) Rolling Resistance Force (Fr) and its elevation is 30m height. The four different
The rolling resistance force is primarily due to the gradient road conditions such as 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%
friction of the scooter tire on the road. The force is are applied to this simulation. At 0%, the required force is
calculated based on the scooter weight and rolling estimated as 80 (N), and the maximum required force at
resistance: 30% is projected to be 550 (N).
Based on simulation results, the required force profile
F r = µr m g (1) is projected by connecting the four points. In the practical
design, the design margin should be added to the required
where µr is the coefficient of rolling resistance, m is the force to propel the scooter effectively.
curb weight (kg), and g is the gravity (9.8 m/s2).

2) Aerodynamic Drag Force (Fad)

The aerodynamic drag force is related to the scooter
body shape and area moving through the air. The force is
expressed by:

Fad = 0.5 ȡ A Cd g v2 (2)

where ȡ is the density of the air (kg/m3), A is the front

area (m2), Cd is the drag coefficient, and v is the velocity
(m/s).

3) Hill Climbing Force (Fh)

The hill climbing force is related to drive the scooter
up a slope. This force is related to the vehicle weight and
its acting slope. The force is calculated as

Fh = mg sin (ij) (3)

where ij is the slope.

Fig. 1. Required force versus speed characteristics of the electric
scooter.
4) Acceleration Force (Fa)
The acceleration force is the linear acceleration of the
scooter. The force is given by the equation derived from
Newton’s second law as

Fla = ma (4)

where, a is the acceleration.

5) Total Propulsion Force (FT)
The total propulsion force is the sum of all the above
forces:

FT = Fr + Fad + Fh + Fa (5)

The design parameters are as following:

- m: 190kg (including a passenger of mass 75kg)

- µr : 0.015 for a scooter tire
- A: 0.6 m2 (a front of area, 1.2 height x 0.5 width)
- Cd : 0.7 for a ‘sit-up’ riding style
- D: 416 mm (tire diameter, 90/90-10)
- V: 50 (km/h) at maximum speed
Fig. 2. Required power versus speed characteristics of the electric
C. Required Force-Speed Characteristics scooter.

Fig. 1 shows the required force-speed characteristics of

the propulsion system. The required force is dependent on
Fig. 2 shows the required power curve under different
the climbing angle. From the marked four points from P0
road conditions, where the power is defined as the
through P3, the force is estimated. In this simulation, the
product of the force and vehicle speed. In this system, the
gradient to the road condition is defined as the ratio to the
required power for 0% grade is 1.34kW at the speed of
driving distance to its elevation. For example, a 30 %
50km/h and 0.58kW at 35km/h.
gradient means that scooter is driven for 100m distance

2737
 The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

D. Selection of Motor Type where B is the flux density (T), p is the number of pole-
The selection of a motor is essential in achieving high pairs and Lstk is the stack length (mm). This means that
performance propulsion. Prior to selecting a motor type, the flux-density is so dominant to an axial length of the
the following design criteria are considered: active part of the rotor stack length. In this design, it was
assumed that the saturation of the stator teeth is limited to
• High torque-to-weight ratio 1.6T.
• High torque at low speed for climbing A sinusoidal electromotive force (EMF) of the PM
• Wide speed range under different load conditions motor is a source of driving energy to the scooter. The
• High torque and quick power delivery for starting generated EMF per phase is given by

2π (8)
In this work, a compact outer-rotor-type PM dc motor E= k w1 ⋅ N ph ⋅ Φ ⋅ f
is selected. The rotor is designed with an outside of the 2
stator and integrated into the wheel. This structure by
where f is the fundamental frequency (Hz), kw1 is the
connecting to the wheel is simpler. Furthermore, this
fundamental harmonic winding factor, and the product
motor has a short axial length so that it can increase a
kw1 ·Nph is the effective number of turns in series per
high power density ratio. In addition, the motor can
phase. Thus, the generated EMF is proportional to the
achieve high torque at low speeds by increasing poles [8]-
product of the speed and the flux produced by the
[9]. Thus, the selection of an outer-rotor PM motor offers
magnets in the rotor.
benefits of space reduction and also achieves the high-to-
weight ratio of the scooter driven by battery powered. B. Rotor and Stator Configuration
The main constraints of a scooter motor are the
III. PROPULSION MOTOR DESIGN required torque and limited space [9]. The motor should
Based on the system requirements, the details of the be designed with high-torque at low speed; the rotor
propulsion motor are explained along with the motor size, speed is directly coupled with the driving wheel. For this,
rotor and stator, and windings. The designed motor is a direct coupled motor is required for a sufficient number
also evaluated for compelling the driving scooter over of poles to increase the output speed up to at least 30Hz.
force the propulsion. In this design, a 20-pole stator is selected and optimized
to produce the required speed and torque, resulting in
A. Power Density minimization of the core loss in the stators. TABLE II
The design of a scooter motor starts with optimizing summarizes the design parameters of the stator.
the motor size that can be fit to the wheel in rim. In order
to maximize power density at the given motor size, the TABLE II
product of the electric and magnetic loadings of the motor DIMENSION OF STATOR
Major parts Parameters Value (Unit)
must be as high as possible. The electric loading is
Stator Outer diameter 170 mm
mainly limited by thermal factors and the flux-density of Inner diameter 80 mm
the magnet. In addition, a high electric loading is needed Length 63 mm
for a long magnet length in the direction of magnetization, Number of slots 24
to prevent demagnetization. In PM motor, the electric Windings Type Star connection
Number of turns 8
loading is directly related to the flux density of the Number of pairs 2
magnet and air-gap value. The electric load, H, is Coil pitch 1 slot
expressed as: Rotor Outer diameter 200 mm
Inner diameter 171.2 mm
2mN ph I Length 63 mm
H= (6) Permanent Type NdFeB (N35)
πD magnet Length 63 mm
Pole arc 18.0 degree
where m is the number of phases, Nph is the number of Number of poles 20
Thickness 3.5mm
turns in series per phase, I is the rms phase current (A),
and D is the diameter of the air-gap (m). The larger the
electric loading, the more copper and the less iron there in Fig. 3 shows the overall PM brushless DC
the motor. motor configuration. This motor is integrated into the
Another factor is the magnetic loading as air-gap flux. in-wheel hub rim. Permanent magnets are an
This is directly proportional to the remanent flux density
integral part of the rotor, which is on the
of the magnet, and is nearly proportional to its pole-face
outside. With high pole number it became possible to
are. A high power density thus requires the largest
use one short-pitched winding which can eliminate the
possible magnet volume to be fitted to the rotor. The
overlap of the winding end turns [10].
maximum flux, ĭmax, is given by
In the rotor design, 20 pieces of permanent magnets
πDLstk with NdFeB material in the inner surface rotor are
Φ max = B (7)
mounted alternately to form 20 poles in the inner surface
2p
rotor. The windings of stator are configured with two

2738
 The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

adjacent poles to make up a pair of poles so that the flux analysis is divided into two parts; open-circuit and load
paths of different poles are independent. The windings analysis [11]-[12].
also are integrated to the stators inside rotor.
The coil span of the stator windings is designed to be A. Open Circuit Analysis
equal to the one slot-pitch, a total of 8 turns of the
windings are integrated to the stator. Thus, this winding It can be seen from Fig. 5 that the BLDC motor with
structure results in the saving of coppers as well as the design parameters reported in Table II is designed not to
further reduction of volume and weight. be saturated. Fig. 6 shows the air-gap radial and
circumferential magnetic flux density distribution.
Although the peak value (1T) of air-gap flux density is
Rotor high, it can be judged that there is no problem for core
losses due to low rotational speed. As shown in Fig. 7,
the cogging torque is relatively high compared to rated
torque. Therefore, the minimization techniques of
cogging torque should be applied to this model in further
study [13]-[14]. Fig. 8 shows the back-emf waveforms of
the designed BLDC motor obtained at 1000rpm. Since
the peak value (22V) of back-emf is lower than dc-link
Stator voltage (48V), required speed can be achieved.

Fig. 3. Overall brushless DC motor configuration.

C. Windings
An axial view into the bore of the stator is shown in
Fig. 4. This configuration shows the short end windings
that have not overlapping between the phases. The teeth
width around which the coils are wounded is greater than
those between two adjacent coils. The coils are connected
to each other for making the three-phase connection.
Each slot number is presented in coils for assembly.

Fig. 5. Mag B Distribution of the designed BLDC motor.

2
Radial component
Circomferential componnent

1
Flux density [T]

-1

-2 Position [Deg.]
Fig. 4. Three-phase windings configuration of a motor.
Fig. 6. Air-gap radial and circumferential magnetic flux density
distribution.
IV. DESIGN VERIFICATION
This section deals with design verification of the
BLDC motor with design parameters reported in Table II.
Non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) method is
employed for analytical analysis in the design stage. The

2739
 The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

Ansoft LLC
Torque 7p5_emf

4.00 CurveInfo 200

Moving1.Torque

3.00
Setup1: Transient noload 20 Nm
160 30 Nm 40 Nm
Moving1.Torque [NewtonMeter]

2.00 50 Nm 60 Nm
120

Torque [Nm]
1.00
80
0.00
40
-1.00
0
-2.00

-3.00
-40

-4.00 -80
0.00 5.00 10.00 0 10 20 30 40 50
Time[ms]
Fig. 7. Simulated cogging torque. Time [msec]
Fig. 10. Motor torque variation according to load torque obtained under
Ansoft LLC
Back-EMF 7p5_emf open-loop drive.
30.00 CurveInfo
InducedVoltage(PhaseA)

The software developed by Green Motor Technologies

Setup1: Transient
InducedVoltage(PhaseB)
20.00 Setup1: Transient
InducedVoltage(PhaseC)
Setup1: Transient
(GMT) was used to analyze the design optimization.
10.00 Parameters of the motor and materials in the software can
be easily modified to investigate their effects on the
Voltage [V]

0.00 motor performance. The simulation was performed to

analyze the motor at rated speed and load. The output
-10.00
performances as shown in Fig. 11 include the efficiency,
output power, output torque, and input DC current. The
-20.00
efficiency for the proposed motor was simulated over the
-30.00
full speed ranges. The estimated efficiency was quite high
0.00 2.00 4.00
Time[ms]
6.00 8.00
above 590 rpm, even exceeding 88%. The maximum
Fig. 8. Back-emf waveforms at 1000rpm. output power of 8.8kW starts to fall off at about 220 rpm,
and becomes zero when the speed reaches 670 rpm.
B. Load Analysis In the input current of the motor, there is a high current,
Fig. 9 shows the phase current waveform according to resulting in significant level of magnet saturation in the
stator teeth at low speeds. As the speed increases, the
load torque obtained under open-loop drive. The phase
input current also starts decreasing to zero at 670 rpm.
current increases, as the load torque is increased. It can be
seen that the phase current distortion is significant due to For the motor torque, this design is capable of generating
open-loop drive. However, this distortion can be 0.62N of torque without saturating the structure. This
eliminated by simple PI controller in practical use, motor is enough to compel the scooter over force to the
resulting in smooth motor torque [15]. Fig. 10 shows the propulsion.
motor torque variation according to load torque obtained
under open-loop drive. It can be observed that the Ansoft LLC Scooter A-out

designed motor can produce electromagnetic torque 100 1.00 9 500

Output
corresponding with load torque. It can be also observed 90 0.90 Power
Efficiency
8 450

that as higher load torque, the longer settling time. 80 0.80 400
7

200 70 0.70
6
350
O u tp u tT o r q u e [k N e w to n M e te r]

50 Nm 50 Nm Torque
150 60 0.60 300
In p u tD C C u rr e n t [A ]
E ffic ie n c y [p e r c e n t]

O u tp u tP o w e r [k W ]

40 Nm 30 Nm
5
20 Nm 0 Nm
100 50 0.50 250

4
Input
Current [A]

50 40 0.40 200

Curve Info
Current
3
0 30 0.30 OutputTorque
Setup1 : Performance
150

OutputPow er 2
-50 20 0.20 Setup1 : Performance 100

Efficiency
Setup1 : Performance 1
-100 10 0.10
InputDCCurrent
50

Setup1 : Performance

-150 0 0.00
0.00 100.00 200.00 300.00 400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00
0 0

RSpeed [rpm]

-200 Fig. 11. Simulated power, currrent, and torque charateristics of a

0 18 36 proposed motor under different operation conditions.
Position [Deg.]
Fig. 9. Phase current waveform according to load torque obtained under
open-loop drive.

2740
 The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION applied voltage source. Further increase of speed can be
The proposed outer-rotor-type PM motor is designed, obtained by the high voltage. Although the motor speed
built, tested and integrated into the wheel rim on tire. may be increased, it is difficult to maintain constant
This motor is powered by dc voltage of 48V, and the power. The torque and speed of the motor is limited at
pulsed-width-modulation (PWM) inverter voltage is speeds below the base speed.
applied to the motor. The experimental results explained
that how much power and performance have been
achieved from the designed motor under various
operation conditions.
The measurement setup of the 1.42KW prototype
electric scooter is shown in Fig. 12. The performance
parameters set out are aimed to producing a design
specification of the scooter vehicle shown in Fig. 13. In
this test, a dc voltage of 48V powered by four 12V
batteries is applied to the motor.
On the test, the dc current is linearly increased by
60Nm and is limited to 90A beyond 65Nm. The
maximum efficiency was about 85% during a period from
20Nm to 60Nm region. After 60Nm region, the efficiency
falls and becomes to 5% at 180Nm region.

Fig. 14. Comparison between required torque and meseasured torque of

the prototype motor.

Table III summarizes the maximum speed and input

current of the motor. The battery voltages of 48V and
54V, respectively, are applied to the speed tests. The
maximum speed at 54V input voltage operation was
55km/h and 49km/h at 48V. The needed input current
was 14A at 35km/h at 48V. In the high elevation road
10 inch wheel like a 40% climing mode, the curent is required to 90A at
10km/h. These results verified the matching in designed
Fig. 12. Test set-up of a newly developed propulsion system. value and experimental value under differenet road
conditions.

DC current TABLE III

MAXIMUM SPEED AND CURRENT PROFILE UNDER DIFFERENT ROAD
CONDITIONS.
DC voltage
 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Power Efficiency Maximum 48V 48.5 44 31 18 9.5
Speed
(km/h) 54V 55 50 38 24 16

Speed Current 48V 30 65 90 90 90

(A) 54V 34 75 90 90 90

VI. CONCLUSION
This paper has presented the design of an outer-rotor-
type permanent magnet dc motor for electric scooter
Fig. 13. Experimental results of the proposed PM motor.
propulsion systems. The motor with 20-poles is designed
and integrated into the wheel rim on the tire. Based on the
system requirements, simulation and experimental results
Fig. 14 shows a comparison between the required were evaluated for motor performance. In the stage of
torque and the measured torque of the prototype motor. design, simulation using non-linear finite element
When an input voltage of 48V and 54V are applied, the analysis (FEA) method has conducted to meet the system
torque capability of the motor is good enough to drive the requirements.
scooter under all speed ranges. Full torque is maintained The overall efficiency has achieved 87% at rated speed
over a wide range of speeds, and the maximum torque is of 30km/sec. The full design and its aspects have also
determined by the driving voltage available from the discussed with the test results in the practical system.

2741
 The 2010 International Power Electronics Conference

REFERENCES
[1] N. Bianchi, S. Bolognani, and M. Zigliotto, “High-Performance
PM Synchronous Motor Drive for an Electrical Scooter,” IEEE
Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 37, no. 5, pp.1348-
1355, Sep./Oct. 2001.
[2] A. Affanni, A. Bellini, G. Franceschini, P. Guglielmi, and C.
Tassoni, “Battery choice and management for new-generation
electric vehicles,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics,
vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 1343–1349, Oct. 2005.
[3] G. Pellegrino, E. Armando, and P. Guglielmi, “Integrated battery
charger for electric scooter,” 2009 EPE 13th European Conference
on Power Electronics and Applications, pp. 1-7, 2009
[4] F. Profumo, Z. Zhang, and A. Tenconi, “Axial flux machines
drives: a new viable solution for electric cars,” IEEE Trans.
Industrial Electronics, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 39-45, Feb. 1997.
[5] J. M. Kim and S. K. Sul, “Speed Control of Interior Permanent
Magnet Synchronous Motor Drive for the Flux-Weakening
Operation,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 33,
no. 1, pp. 43-48, Jan./Feb. 1997.
[6] F. Caricchi, F. Crescimbini, and E. Santini, “Basic principle and
design criteria of axial-flux PM machines having counter rotating
rotors,” IEEE Trans. Industry Applications, vol. 31, no. 5, pp.
1062-1068, Sept./Oct. 1995.
[7] J. Hendershot, J. R., and T. J. E. Miller, Design of Brushless
Permanent-Magnet Motors, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994.
[8] C. T. Liu and K. C. Chuang, “On the design of a disc-type surface-
mounted permanent magnet motor for electric scooter
application,” Conf. Rec. of IEEE IAS’2002, pp. 377-383, Oct.
2002.
[9] N. Ravi, S. Ekram, and D. Mahajan, “Design and Development of
an In-Wheel Brushless D.C. Motor Drive for an Electric Scooter,”
PEDES 2006 International Conference on Power Electronics,
Drives and Energy Systems, pp. 1-4, Dec. 2006.
[10] G. H. Jang, J. W. Yoon, K. C. Ro, N. Y. Park, and S. M.
Jang, “Performance of a brushless DC motor due to the axial
geometry of the permanent magnet,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol.
33, pp. 1997 .
[11] S. Ruoho, E. Dlala, and A. Arkkio, “Comparison of
Demagnetization Models for Finite-Element Analysis of
Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machines,” IEEE Trans. Magn.,
vol. 43, no. 11, pp. 3964-3968, 2007.
[12] P. R. Upadhyay and K. R. Rajagopal, “FE analysis and
computeraided design of a sandwiched axial-flux permanent
magnet brushless dc motor,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 42, no. 10,
pp. 3401–3403, 2006.
[13] M. F. Hsieh and Y. S. Hsu, “An investigation on influence of
magnet arc shaping upon back electromotive force waveforms for
design of permanent-magnet brushless motors,” IEEE Trans.
Magn., vol. 41, no. 10, pp. 3949-3951, 2005.
[14] C. C. Hwang, P. L. Li, F. C. Chuang, C. T. Liu, and K. H. Huang,
“Optimization for Reduction of Torque Ripple in an Axial Flux
Permanent Magnet Machine,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 45, no. 3,
pp.1760-1763, 2009
[15] Y. P. Yang and D. S. Chung, “Optimal Design and Control of a
Wheel Motor for Electrical Passenger Cars,” IEEE Trans. Magn.,
vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 51–61, 2007.

2742