• SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz
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    22 days ago

    That’s an interesting point. It also implies much better efficiency at low speeds than most motors.

    Given a few generations of better semiconductor, it could end up being very interesting for (railway mostly?) traction motors.

    • Low speed high torque means you don’t need a further reduction gearbox.

    • Good performance near zero speeds mean you might not need to use braking at all aside from parking and emergencies.

    • High voltages are already widely used and available - 1500VDC nominal is an older standard for metro trains; 3kVDC is common both for older overhead and as an intermediate DC bus voltage for AC overhead. Future semiconductor generations could allow direct use of 25kV overhead (~40kVDC rectified at maximum line level) without the need for an intermediate bus, assuming the dielectric fluid was good enough.