LONGMONT, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE MKT: UQM) announced today that it was granted a U.S. patent for its electric and hybrid electric vehicle motor design using non-rare earth magnets. The majority of electric and hybrid electric vehicles produced today use permanent magnet motors with rare-earth magnet materials. This new design provides a similar level of performance to UQM’s current design, and once the development is completed will allow UQM the flexibility to choose between these systems depending on projected magnet costs into the future.
United States Patent Number 8,928,198 was issued and assigned to UQM Technologies on January 6, 2015. The patent covers the unique magnet geometry and the method of manufacturing the motor.
“The patented technology that we’ve developed provides a viable option to existing rare-earth motor technology, limiting exposure for us and our customers to the price and political volatilities of rare-earth magnets,” said Eric R. Ridenour, President and Chief Executive Officer of UQM Technologies, Inc. “We are now in the prototype stage and the first samples are meeting our objectives, providing us with the validation to move into the next phase of development.”
Implementation of this patented technology is part of a $4M Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research and Development Grant previously awarded to UQM for the development of non-rare earth magnet electric motors for use in electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
About UQM
UQM Technologies is a developer and manufacturer of power-dense, high-efficiency electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers for the commercial truck, bus, automotive, marine, military and industrial markets. A major emphasis for UQM is developing propulsion systems for electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles. UQM is TS 16949 certified and located in Longmont, Colorado.
For more information please visit www.uqm.com.
This Release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. These statements appear in a number of places in this Release and include statements regarding our plans, beliefs or current expectations; including those plans, beliefs and expectations of our management with respect to, among other things, new product developments, future orders to be received from our customers, sales of products from inventory, future financial results, liquidity and the continued growth of the electric-powered vehicle industry. Important Risk Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements are contained in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs, which are available through our website at www.uqm.com or at www.sec.gov.
