System optimization of electric drives in terms of lightweight design, acoustics and efficiency by means of modern transmission simulation methods

Lightweight, acoustics and efficiency are among the main conflicting engineering targets within developments of electric drive transmissions. The lightweight optimization will be considered at Magna Powertrain (MPT) by the usage of topology-optimization and fatigue software tools. Regarding acoustics an engineering process for prediction of air- and structure borne noise has been developed and successfully used for MPT's eDrive developments. For efficiency-optimizations, MPT already analyses the losses in early project phases with the aim to reduce those. Electric drives from MPT are highly integrated systems. Due to this, it is not suitable to consider the transmission as a single sub-component. It has to be considered as a part of the eDrive system together with e-motor and inverter. The paper shall show the approaches developed and incorporated by MPT based on highly efficient eDrive projects that also fulfill acoustic and lightweight requirements to increase the range of electric vehicles.