A compact electric motor roughly the size of a 12.5 kg gas cylinder now delivers 1,000 horsepower. Weighing 94 kg, it spins at 21,000 rpm. Power density hits 8 kW per kg. That’s double what typical EV motors achieve, and it beats many advanced aviation units too.
Fraunhofer IISB, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology, built this prototype. They packed it with four independent three-phase hairpin windings. More copper in the same space means higher current. Direct oil spray cooling pulls heat away fast. No overheating. Thinner NO15 steel sheets—0.15 mm thick, half the usual—cut eddy currents and boost high-speed efficiency.
Redundancy built in. Four sections, each with its own winding, inverter, control. One fails? Others keep going. Safety first for aircraft.
This isn’t hype. It’s lab-validated hardware meeting aerospace standards. A single unit matches three Tesla Model S Plaid motors—1,020 hp combined from those Teslas. But here, one motor does it, in a fraction of the space.
Project AMBER drives it. An EU Clean Aviation initiative. Goal: hydrogen fuel cell hybrid electric propulsion for regional aircraft. Cut CO2 by 30% versus 2020 turboprops. Partners include Avio Aero with their Catalyst engine, plus GE Aerospace. Fraunhofer handled motor from concept to test.
And yet. Certification looms large. Lab to flight-ready? That’s the hard part. Hydrogen cells for regional routes? Still unproven. Timelines stretch.
Fraunhofer’s Design Leaps Past Radial Flux Norms
EV motors hover at 2-4 kW/kg. Aviation pushes 5-6. Fraunhofer’s 8 clears the bar. Hairpin windings cram copper tight. Oil spray trumps air cooling. Thin steel slashes losses.
Compare to others. Mercedes-owned YASA’s axial-flux prototype: 12.7 kg, 750 kW peak—over 1,000 hp, 59 kW/kg density. That’s four times an EV motor, but tiny scale, automotive focus. Road & Track covered YASA beating its own record months after setting it. Tim Woolmer, YASA founder and CTO: “This isn’t a concept on a screen. It’s running, right now, on the dynos.” Simon Odling, chief of new tech: “This is real hardware, in real life, delivering real data.”
Equipmake’s APM200: 220 kW peak, liquid-cooled rotor, for hypercars like Ariel Hipercar. Denser than many, but not 8 kW/kg continuous. H3X and others hit 13-14 kW/kg peaks in aero-marine. Fraunhofer matches Plaid power in beer-keg form. Scalable? YASA claims yes, no exotics. Fraunhofer echoes that—standard processes, aerospace rigor.
Short bursts dazzle. Sustained output counts more. YASA’s continuous: 350-400 kW, still tops charts at 27.6 kW/kg. Fraunhofer eyes hybrids where weight savings fly far.
Aircraft demand this. Every kg counts. Regional props need hybrids now—batteries too heavy for long hauls. Hydrogen pairs well. Motor squeezes power from tight spots. Pairs with Avio’s Catalyst for thrust.
But challenges stack. Oil cooling in flight? Proven, but integrate carefully. Four-section fault tolerance? Meets DO-160 standards? Testing proves it.
Industry watches. Tesla’s Plaid tri-motor: big, heavy. This? Compact punch. Broader ripples. EVs could slim drivetrains. Drones, boats too. Power density climbs yearly.
EU bets big on AMBER. Clean Aviation funds it. Goal: entry into service by 2035. Ambitious. Prototypes spin today. Flights tomorrow?
Fraunhofer pushes boundaries. From beer keg to skies. Real hardware. Real power. Aviation’s electric shift accelerates.
TechRadar first detailed the motor April 16, 2026. TechRadar Pro. YASA’s feats add context, via IDN Financials and others. Progress compounds.