BorgWarner Receives R&D 100 Award for Breakthrough Electric Motor Collaboration

• Award recognizes co-development between BorgWarner and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, beginning in 2021 
• Company honored for rotary transformer work on permanent-magnet-free electric motors without brushes
• Technology improves reliability and reduces dependence on rare earth magnets 

Auburn Hills, Michigan, November 6, 2025 – BorgWarner, a global product leader in delivering innovative and sustainable mobility solutions, has won an R&D 100 Award in partnership with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for their work on a rotary-transformer-based wireless excitation system for electrically excited synchronous motors (EESM). 

BorgWarner and ORNL’s advanced development project powers an electromagnet-based rotor, eliminating the need for rare earth magnets and reducing supply chain risks. The transformer-based approach also eliminates brushes and sliprings, which tend to wear out over time, enhancing overall reliability in passenger and commercial vehicle applications and reducing the size of the motor by 15%. 

The partnership began in 2021 and focused on designing a solution that delivers greater efficiency, lower costs, enhanced robustness and ease of integration – all of which were achieved. Additionally, while competing concepts are restricted to certain drivetrains based on their designs, this rotary transformer is highly compatible with all forms of drivetrains and compact gearboxes.

“This partnership brought strong collaboration and significant technological advances, including nine patent applications,” said Harry L. Husted, Chief Technology Officer, BorgWarner Inc. “By combining BorgWarner’s traction motor expertise with Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s wireless power transfer capabilities, we developed a technology that matches the performance and exceeds the power density of rare earth-based motors – without using rare earth materials. This is a substantial accomplishment.”

The rotary transformer system wirelessly transmits power to the rotor with 92-95% efficiency, and it can spin faster than 20,000 revolutions per minute. High speed power density of the brushless EESM motor can be 25% higher than rare earth magnet motors. 

The annual R&D 100 Awards is a global science and innovation competition that has been hosted by R&D World magazine since 1963. The competition is judged by industry professionals from across the world and evaluates nominations based on impact, novelty and practical application in a variety of fields and categories. BorgWarner and ORNL were awarded in the IT/Electrical category. The awards ceremony to honor R&D 100 Award recipients will take place on November 20th in Scottsdale, Arizona.

BorgWarner Breakthrough Electric Motor Collaboration

BorgWarner Receives R&D 100 Award for Breakthrough Electric Motor Collaboration_CAD