Many of us claim that we could have come up with world-changing inventions - only the world just never found out about them. Few take their fanciful light-bulb-moment ideas and turn them into anything more than exactly that - ideas. Two American electric motor innovators, though, are proud to be part of the minority that dares to transform their pipe dream into a reality.
The business of producing electric alternatives to greenhouse gasses is quickly becoming one of the most prominent and innovative sectors in the world. Ever since the signing of the Paris Agreement by 192 countries and the EU in 2015, companies and governments have been acting fast in an attempt to introduce clean energy strategies that contribute towards decarbonization.
Electric vehicles have been widely championed as playing a pivotal role in Biden's climate pledge to reduce harmful emissions by 50% by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Ford, for instance, recently announced an $11.4 billion investment in electric vehicle battery plants. Similarly, in 2020, Volkswagen committed to directing an additional $86 billion over the next five years towards digital and electric vehicle technologies. Despite these impressive investments, the 4.15 tons of carbon produced for each ton of copper mined and smelted isn’t being addressed. Nor are the benefits of shifting to a more efficient motor that doesn’t rely on volatile commodities. Specifically, with a potential 25% increase in power density, just with the cost savings on copper and other magnetic material, the cost savings for the industry adopting this technology, saves the industry projected at $200B a year by 2030, on the order of $20B a year on copper and other magnetic material.
Daniel V. Vicario Jr and Dr Siavesh Sadeghi have years of experience in this area, with both having centered their respective focuses on electric motor technology. When the three-phase motor was invented by Nikola Tesla in 1886, over time it became integrated into a host of machines and devices.
“To this day, the three-phase motor is still the dominant motor of choice,” Vicario outlines, “After spending more time in this industry, Dr Sadeghi and I became increasingly reluctant to accept that this 100-year-old status quo was the best kind of electric motor that humanity had to offer.” After combining their experience and carrying out years of research, their suspicions were confirmed: there is a better way.
That way is via the flagship product of Vicario and Dr Sadeghi’s new firm, Optiphase Drive Systems - the five-phase motor. This presents a variety of benefits that build on the three-phase motor model, such as the five-phase motor’s ability to offer a higher power density, an increased fault tolerance and a lower cost.
This new technology could be set to completely redirect the trajectory of the electric motor industry and in turn the speed with which we progress towards decarbonization. The creators of Optiphase Drive Systems have enjoyed storied careers in their respective fields, but after seeing the potential that this five-phase motor has to revolutionize the industry, they both packed up their jobs and went all in on this new venture.
This was not always the most obvious destination for Vicario, who spent the first 25 years of his career in the US Navy and Aerospace, Energy and Defense industries. This saw him travelling around the world on a variety of expeditions, including deployments for Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as humanitarian Aid, including Hurricane Katrina. These were missions that helped to stop human-trafficking rings, drug busts and anti-terrorism operations.
This involved the responsibility of training the next generation of aviators and search and rescue swimmers, a position which consolidated Vicario’s sense of having a duty to leave the world in a better place than how he found it. After this, Vicario’s corporate career path wove through roles such as Senior Program Manager for Advanced Technology Development at Capstone Green Energy Corporation, Senior Portfolio Manager at Parker Aerospace, and lastly as the industrial sector Product Portfolio Manager. Before co-founding Optiphase Drive Systems, Vicario was in charge of new project introduction in the more electric aircraft product development aerospace vehicle and e-mobility divisions at the Eaton Corporation.
While Vicario was gaining an in-depth insight into the corporate world of e-mobility and the implications of clean energy for the transport sector, Dr Sadeghi was building his experience in the scientific facets of electric motor design. After studying in his birthplace of Iran, Dr Sadeghi traveled to the US and worked his way up to senior and principal engineering positions at an array of high-profile companies, such as General Motors, Capstone Turbine and Honeywell Aerospace. Most recently, Dr Sadeghi was in charge of advanced electrical motor design for Hyundai UAM. Dr Sadeghi has just received his PhD in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech and he holds more than 8 patents throughout the world in power generation and hyperloop levitation and drive systems.
Together, Vicario and Dr Sadeghi bring an expansive, eclectic and deep-rooted knowledge of both the technical and the corporate dimensions of the world they are venturing into with Optiphase. After concocting the idea together in Vicario’s garage, they have eschewed the financial security of their jobs to pursue this path - a path that they both hope will make vehicles safer, more eco-friendly and more energy-efficient.
“At the moment, the industry is metaphorically stalling its engine by sticking to the well-worn, traditional path of three-phase motors. We truly believe that Optiphase Drive Systems’ unique five-phase motors are the way forward for the electric motor industry. Of course, we hope it will be successful for our sakes, but more importantly, we’re passionate about the innovation this can provide in terms of carving out a shorter, safer and smoother pathway towards decarbonization,” concludes Vicario.
Media Contact:
Name: Daniel Vicario
Email: [email protected]
