Electric axial flux motor with thermoset overmolding
Images and text content provided by Mercedes-Benz AG
Milestone reached:
Start of series production of the axial flux motor
On June 9, 2026, Mercedes-Benz announced the start of series production of the innovative electric axial flux motor. The motor is manufactured in Germany at the Mercedes-Benz site in Berlin-Marienfelde.
Source: Mercedes-Benz AG
Special design and high demands on the components
The basic principle of the axial flux motor was developed by the British electric motor specialist YASA, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG since July 2021. Compared with conventional electric motors, the compact motor design achieves higher continuous power and higher torque with a more compact build.
In the axial flux motor, the electromagnetic flux runs parallel to the motor's axis of rotation. In a conventional electric motor, by contrast, it runs perpendicular to the axis of rotation. In the axial flux motor, key components of the electric motor are designed as thin discs: two rotors sandwich the stator on the left and right. This arrangement – also called H-arrangement – of stator and rotors enables optimal coupling of the magnetic flux, generated by the stator's magnetic field, to the rotors.
The stator is positioned between two rotor discs with magnets and firmly connected. Magnetic forces of up to 9 kN (kilonewtons) act on the components – corresponding to around 900 kilograms. At the same time, the stator must remain in the magnetic center plane with a tolerance of less than 0.1 millimeters.
Thermosets and innovative plastics technology in the process chain
With such high forces and tolerance requirements, the individual components must be manufactured perfectly and remain exactly in place.
Among other materials, thermosets and high-performance thermoplastics are used here.
In total, production comprises 98 process steps. 65 of them are used for the first time at Mercedes-Benz, and 35 processes are new worldwide. The technologies developed for this led to more than 30 patent applications.
We thank the entire Mercedes-Benz and YASA team for the excellent cooperation and for the trust placed in us.
Here you can find the full publication by Mercedes-Benz.