TECH: TOPICS
For decades, Porsche has used various electric motors without anyone paying too much attention. From starter motors to cabriolet roof mechanisms, electric windows to automatically deploying spoilers, they were ubiquitous before the age of the electric car began in earnest. Ferdinand Porsche's engineering career was, in fact, rooted in his fascination with electricity. In 1898, he designed the electric motorpropelled Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton and, two years later, developed an electric wheel hub motor used as part of the hybrid system in the Lohner-Porsche Electromobile, the first-ever hybrid car. He then extensively applied this technology and expertise to wartime engineering, but it wouldn't be until 2010 that the sports car company bearing his name would return to electrification. Enter the Cayenne S Hybrid.
It's best to start with the core principles of an electric motor and the various types rather than jump straight in and try to explain how the Cayenne's synchronous electric motor operates. Yes, electric motors are simpler than internal combustion engines, but there are many different designs to pore over. Having said this, the overriding concept is an electrical machine converting electrical energy (in the case of cars, from a battery) into
