Lucid Motors, the American electric vehicle manufacturer, has unveiled a compact new electric drive unit that incorporates the motor, inverter, differential, and transmission.
The unit will be used on the front axles of this year’s Formula E single-seater race cars. The drive unit provides regenerative power under braking, acting as a generator and replenishing the battery.
“With incredible power density of 14.7 hp/kg and immense energy recuperation, this drive unit will once again transform electric motorsports, following in the footsteps of our revolutionary battery pack in prior race seasons,” said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Group. “For Lucid, the transfer of technology between motorsports and road cars is a two-way symbiosis. This new motorsports drive unit builds directly upon the groundbreaking powertrain technology developed in-house by Lucid and proven on the road in every Lucid Air. I’m excited by the prospect that some of the technical advancements introduced may in turn make their way to future Lucid road cars.”
According to the company, the front drive unit was designed and engineered in-house and boasts a maximum power output of 469 horsepower, a maximum rotor speed of 19,500 rpm, and weighs just 70.5 pounds.
The unit also benefits from Lucid’s proprietary microjet cooling system, the same as on the company’s road-going Air sedan. The Formula E front drive units are manufactured at Lucid’s headquarters in California and then shipped to teams participating in the electric motorsport series. Prior to this year, Lucid served as the battery supplier for the 2022 Formula E championship.
