AEM collects over £20 million in funding
The funding will be used to scale up production capacity at its facility in the Northeast UK, deliver on growth plans to establish a global sales footprint and bolster R&D capabilities. AEM’s motor technologies remove the need for rare earth metals in EV drive systems.
In addition to scaling up production capacities, 40 new skilled green jobs are to be created at the facility in the next two years. Further, the company plans to establish a global sales and service footprint, accelerating the rollout of its electric drive solutions. To start, AEM’s HDSRM motor, which is designed for commercial vehicles, is already in production and use in customer vehicles across the UK, Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
AEM also wants to accelerate the development of its SSRD passenger vehicle drive syste. The SSRD was initially developed with the support of Innovate UK, the Advanced Propulsion Centre and leading academic and automotive partners, including Bentley. Finally, the funds will be used to bring its copper-free motor to production, which the company write “will further improve recyclability and move AEM closer to the goal of being the world’s most sustainable electric motor manufacturer”.
“Today’s funding announcement clears our path to sustainable growth for years to come,” said James Widmer, CEO and co-founder of Advanced Electric Machines, adding: “It is a vote of confidence from the market in our vision, our technical capabilities and our mission to rid EV motors of harmful and problematic materials.”
Steven Poulter, Head of Principal Structuring and Investments at Barclays, expanded on the material needs that AEM is working towards: “AEM is
solving a fundamental constraint of the EV market – the reliance on rare earth metals for motors – which causes significant cost and supply chain challenges. By producing motors that don’t rely on these metals, AEM is able to remove the key barriers to the production and subsequent adoption of EVs.”
AEM was founded in 2017 after it was spun out from Newcastle University’s electric motor research team, led by AEM’s CEO, Dr James Widmer, and CTO, Dr Andy Steven. Currently, the company owns 46 international patents for drive designs and manufacturing processes.
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