Purpose The purpose of this paper is to exploit the optimal performances of each magnetic material in terms of low iron losses and high saturation flux density to improve the efficiency and the power density of the selected motor. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a study to improve the power density and efficiency of e-motors for electric traction applications with high operating speed. The studied machine is a yokeless-stator axial flux permanent magnet synchronous motor with a dual rotor. The methodology consists in using different magnetic materials for an optimal design of the stator and rotor magnetic circuits to improve the motor performance. The candidate magnetic materials, adapted to the constraints of e-mobility, are made of thin laminations of Si-Fe nonoriented grain electrical steel, Si-Fe grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) and iron-cobalt Permendur electrical steel (Co-Fe). Findings The mixed GOES-Co-Fe structure allows to reach 10 kW/kg in rated power density and a high efficiency in city driving conditions. This structure allows to make the powertrain less energy consuming in the battery electric vehicles and to reduce CO2 emissions in hybrid electric vehicles. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the improvement of both power density and efficiency of the electric motor in automotive application by using different magnetic materials through a multiobjective optimization.

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