After four years of intense research and development, Saietta is ready to revolutionise the Indian market with its new partnership with Padmini VNA. The company’s patent-pending Axial Flux Technology (AFT), with liquid cooling, aims to replace the 110 cc IC engines in motorcycles in the country. We talk to Wicher Kist, CEO and Graham Lenden, Chief Commercial Officer of Saietta, to know more about the AFT technology and the company’s plans for the country.

How do you evaluate the Indian two-wheeler market?

Wicher: India’s two-wheeler market is one of the biggest opportunities on the planet. During our visits to India and China, we observed that while in Shanghai people preferred mopeds, we saw car and bike parks full of 110 cc motorbikes in India. We tried to understand his trend and set out on a mission four years ago to develop the perfect motor to replace the 110 cc engines in India. This led us to develop an efficient motor that can ultimately work with swappable batteries. We have used cheap ingredients and chosen what we believe is the right topology. Looking back at the early days of Formula E, we realised Axial Flux technology is the most efficient technology but is extremely expensive. So, Saietta went on a mission to bring AFT to the mass market, and the collaboration with Padmini VNA has assured us that we got it right. For example, if Delhi would switch to eight kilowatts electric motorbikes and scooters with the same swappable batteries, we believe that one could switch batteries for less money than what they pay for fuel per month. This technology has already been proven by Gogoro in Taiwan. The one segment where leading technology solution providers and the government need to work together is to clean up the air in large cities by building docking stations. We need docking stations on every street corner.

India doesn’t have a standard battery technology. Do you think it will be a limitation in the large scale deployment of swappable battery technology?

Wicher: I think we are three years away from achieving the standard battery technology. Companies like Sun Mobility, Greenfuel, Panasonic and many more have already started work in this regard. For example, in Japan, vehicle manufacturers are signing agreements to develop the same battery cartridges. At Saietta, we focus on providing extremely affordable eight kilowatts powertrain solutions to support the electrification with our partner Padmini in India.

Graham: We believe that the recent memorandum of understanding signed between Hero MotoCorp and Gogoro for smaller bikes will fast track the swappable battery solution for India in terms of infrastructure.

Considering the condition of the Indian roads and the high payload Indian households carry on a motorbike, do you think there is a need to offer a customised solution for the Indian bikes?

Wicher: We have fine-tuned the motor to carry higher payloads so that Indian families can still commute like they do today.

Graham: The duty cycle of an Indian motorcycle is less than 25 kilometres in a day carrying heavy payloads in high ambient temperature. So, to answer all these criteria, we created a motor with very high torque and for the first time, with liquid cooling to help keep the motor temperature low and maintain a high continuous power. So, at Saietta, we have managed to engineer water cooling at the right price for the first time in this segment, helping us improve efficiency and allowing us to use a smaller battery to reduce weight and cost. The final thing is the price; we have been rigorous at designing the motors to be manufactured at a price suitable for the Asian market.

The low voltage is a critical aspect of these motors as we believe that these motorbikes will not be serviced by franchise trade but by individuals who are not trained in high voltage. If you deliver high-voltage motors to untrained electrical personnel to service, then you have a real safety problem on your hands. So, we’ve instead designed it at low voltage to deliver the efficiency required at a price needed while maintaining the high torque and constant power, and ease of use and maintenance.

You have moved from a DC motor to an AC motor with the second-generation AFT motor. Can you explain the changes and the advancements made with the second-generation motor?

Wicher: The first-generation DC motor was more of an industrial application motor. So, we looked at the technology and realised that the motors for the Asian market cannot have brushes given the hot climate. So, the first generation was a learning exercise, where we sold small volumes but always knew that we had to start from scratch for mass-market adaptation of AFT, which we have been doing over the last four years.

So, you mentioned liquid cooling and the use of cheap materials. Can you elaborate on the reliability?

Wicher: I’m a big fan of the lean principles. Eighty percent of the cost is defined on the drawing board, and we knew what the market wanted. So, we define the specification and design a product which we believe is capable of low-cost, mass market production. Reliability is number one and will always stay number one. Still, the beauty is because it’s a pancake-shaped motor, so it’s a bit bigger in diameter and a bit flatter, making it easier to integrate into a motorbike. Also, the high torque helps us delete the transmission, which reduces the overall vehicle price.

Graham: Our motors deliver the power and torque required at low rpm compared to our peers which ensures less wear and tear on the motor, helping extend its operating life, and hence reducing cost of ownership. We have developed this technology because this is fundamentally a commuter tool and reliability is key. It’s not just the low-cost materials, but it’s also the way that it goes together. We know that one can assemble this motor in a highly automated way in mass volume.

You mentioned the idea of ‘designed in the UK and manufactured in India’. Can you elaborate on your plans to produce in India?

Wicher: We plan to have a base production plan at Padmini to cater to the smaller players, but we also offer to set up mini plants for the more prominent players based on their requirements. Over the years of working in the industry, we have learnt that when a vehicle manufacturer wants our technology, we add value to them from the first meeting by working together to integrate the product into their bike and help them reduce the overall components. Then the tailor-made designs are prototyped with the demo fleets built for durability testing. Our durability centre in the UK can run the motor 24x7 to build customers’ confidence in the product, helping iron out any possible defects or reliability concerns before the product goes into production. So, in the future, the aim is to have several plants across India producing Saietta’s technology.

We have seen multiple manufacturers moving away from conventional motors and starting development on the axial flux motors. Can you explain the recent advancements made in the axial flux technology contributing to this rise in its adaptation, and how do you plan to stay competitive with it?

Wicher: The ability of the technology to provide a better range from the same battery while being compact in size is the primary reason. At Saietta, we believe that our technology will provide the client with the most cost-effective option while taking them further down the road. This will help in the natural migration of the clients towards our technology. We recently achieved 10 percent more range from a battery pack without regen during one of the application tests. For India, we have the same plan. We are already converting a couple of bikes for a demo. These will be available at Padmini later in the year for 2-wheel OEMs to experience the advantages of our motor and our patent pending technology.

Can the AFT technology be used to create a 200-250 cc replacement motor?

Wicher: We are developing an 800 volts version for a specific client in Asia that is a similar size as an AFT 140 but making more than 160 kilowatts of power. If the client’s application wants high voltage, we can build it to make it feel like a 250 to 350 cc, but the bottleneck is often battery technology. The battery has a certain limitation on current. Therefore, the marriage between the right battery technology and the powertrain can tune the AFT 140 to make it feel like a 250 cc, while with an AFT 110, we can fine-tune it and bring the cost down further for the 110-cc market segment. If you look at the international scene, Saietta focuses on two categories: L3E (Motorcycles) and L7E (Quadricycles).

Has the use of liquid cooling impacted the weight of the motor?

Wicher: As the liquid is heavier than the air, we have observed an increase in weight, but that has not impacted the motor negatively. So, we believe that it is a good compromise to introduce liquid cooling and manage the additional weight for the longevity of the motor and the inverter. Also, an electric water pump is extremely cheap because most Asian motorcycles are already water-cooled with a small radiator and a water pump. As you know, this is also a speciality of our new partner, Padmini.

Are you going to cater to other applications as well?

Wicher: The time has arrived to think about the electrification of vehicles for agricultural and humanitarian applications. We feel that companies need to start thinking about using solar panels to replace diesel generators in the agricultural sector and help purify air quality in big cities and countries. (MT)

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Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, in collaboration with industry partners, have published a study in Nature Communications demonstrating that reconfigurable battery pack architectures can extend electric vehicle battery operational life by more than 20 percent under specific conditions.

In conventional electric vehicle battery packs, cells are wired in a fixed series configuration, meaning the weakest cell dictates the overall capacity, performance and lifespan of the entire pack. The architecture evaluated by the Chalmers engineering team uses integrated electronic switches and a centralised battery management system to monitor individual cells or cell groups. When a cell experiences accelerated degradation or reduced capacity, the system bypasses the degraded unit while electric current continues to flow through the remaining functional cells.

Albert Skegro, a PhD student at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology, said, "They must all move at the pace of the slowest person and stop when that person stops, regardless of how much energy the others have left. With the architecture we have modelled, the battery can instead bypass the cell that is causing problems and continue using the remaining cells."

Changfu Zou, Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Chalmers, said, "Reconfiguration is not an on-or-off choice. It is a spectrum. Where a manufacturer chooses to position itself on that spectrum determines how much of the potential benefit can be realised."

In a representative modelling scenario featuring an 80 kWh battery pack driven 12,000 kilometres annually over an 18.8-year vehicle lifespan, the reconfigurable system deferred battery replacement by approximately 14 months. The researchers noted that the technology yields the highest performance gains in high-voltage vehicles, including 400-volt and 800-volt electric passenger cars and commercial trucks, where higher cell counts in series increase the statistical probability of individual cell variance.

A techno-economic analysis included in the study determined that implementing cell-level switching hardware increases initial pack production costs by approximately nine per cent based on prototype-scale volumes of 1,000 units. The researchers identified an economic break-even threshold at a 12 percent cost increase, noting that volume manufacturing would lower component costs and increase financial viability for fleet operators and private owners. While prototype applications such as Volvo Cars' SmartCell concept and experimental road vehicles exist, mass-production vehicles using reconfigurable battery packs are yet to enter the commercial market.

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Jakson Green Vehicles has selected Dassault Systèmes’ cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform to manage the design and development of its electric vehicles.

The implementation establishes a collaborative engineering framework to maintain digital continuity across the product development lifecycle. By connecting internal teams and external suppliers, the platform automates workflows, standardises component libraries and manages engineering change requests during early-stage product design. Virtual twin capabilities allow the vehicle manufacturer to conduct virtual validation testing to resolve structural and systems design issues prior to physical manufacturing.

Deepak Thakur, CEO, Jakson Green Vehicles, said, "Using Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Platform enables us to apply a collaborative approach and re-engineer our product lifecycle from the ground up. Through this transition from legacy environments to a unified digital thread, it enables strong R&D to achieve twin objectives; accelerated time-to-market and mitigated development costs. This partnership is helping us to transform the early-stage innovation and product design processes."

Deepak NG, Managing Director – India, Dassault Systèmes, said, "As India continues its dynamic growth trajectory, virtual twin technology serves as a powerful catalyst for sustainable innovation, empowering industries to rethink how they design, produce and operate."

The software adoption forms part of Jakson Green Vehicles' plan to build urban zero-emission mobility vehicles and infrastructure across India.

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UK-headquartered energy technology company Gelion has entered into a material transfer agreement with a top 15 global automotive original equipment manufacturer to assess its NES cathode platform for future electric vehicle battery applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gelion will supply its sulfur-based cathode active material, coated cathodes and liquid electrolyte to the automotive partner. The manufacturer will evaluate the platform in both liquid and solid electrolyte cell configurations, testing compatibility across lithium metal and graphitic anode pathways targeting luxury and mass-market vehicle applications. The technology is designed to serve as a drop-in cathode material capable of integration into existing battery manufacturing lines without re-tooling.

Matt Wood, Chief Executive Officer, Gelion, said, "Our priority markets are commercial & defence drones, EVs and devices. We are honoured to be working with these major global automotive OEMs, and today’s announcement marks further progress towards the adoption of our technology and the generation of commercial revenues via funded programmes and eventually license and royalty revenue in the global EV market, alongside some of the industry’s leading companies."

"The growing engagement from global EV manufacturers reinforces the potential and attractiveness of our NES™ technology. This momentum is also mirrored in our agreements and partnerships across drones and devices, while our work with Tier 1 materials suppliers is advancing the scale-up of our unique, patented battery materials," Wood added.

The agreement expands Gelion’s ongoing industry testing programs with automotive manufacturers, extending the assessment of its sulfur-based cathode platform across liquid and solid battery systems.

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Honda R&D, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., has developed underlying technology for a magnetic coupling wireless power transfer road system in partnership with Taisei Corporation and Taisei Rotec Corporation.

The system enables wireless in-motion charging for electric vehicles, including passenger cars and heavy commercial fleets. The partners plan to initiate demonstration testing on public roads starting in FY2027.

The technology integrates high-power-density receiver and transmitter units from Honda with a high-response direct current power supply system from Taisei and road-embedding construction techniques from Taisei Rotec. By supplying power to electric vehicles while in motion, dynamic wireless power transfer reduces the need for stationary charging infrastructure. The initial commercial focus targets logistics and transport operations, where continuous operation offers economic benefits.

The ground assembly embedded in the roadway combines the inverter and coil into a single unit designed to connect via direct current distribution. This design reduces component counts, simplifies wiring and supports installation into existing road surfaces through standard milling methods. The road pavement structures are engineered to withstand continuous traffic loads from vehicles weighing up to 20 tonnes (20,000kg).

Testing conducted at Taisei Group’s T-FIELD facility in Satte verified system stability and structural durability. Starting in late 2026, the companies will build a test roadway at T-FIELD Tamura to evaluate long-term durability under one million wheel-load cycles, measure power transfer efficiency at outputs up to 150 kW and analyse electromagnetic shielding.

The partnership will also join the Tateyama Expressway demonstration project managed by East Nippon Expressway Company starting in 2027.

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