BorgWarner, UQM Team Up On Turn-Key Electric Powertrain For Automakers

Colorado's UQM Technologies and Michigan's BorgWarner have tied the knot in an agreement to integrate UQM's proprietary electric propulsion system with BW's electric drive single-speed transmission for use in gas-electric hybrid and all-electric passenger vehicles.

First up on the customer list is Southern California-based Coda Automotive, which has announced plans to introduce a battery-electric, five-occupant passenger sedan next summer.

The Coda, to be built in China and based on a heavily reengineered Chinese sedan, will use the QQM-BorgWarner electric powertrain, which mates UQM's 134 peak horsepower electric motor with Borg Warner's 31-03 eGearDrive tranmsission.

The 102-pound, 125 kilowatt motor delivers peak torque of 221 ft-lbs, magnified by the transmission's 6:5:1 gear ratio to 1,440 ft-lb at peak output.

That's sufficient, says Coda CEO Kevin Czinger, to give the $45,000 (estimated) car a 0-60 launch time of under 11 seconds - on par with the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid.

Depending on driving styles, the Coda's 333-volt lithium-ion battery pack will store sufficient juice for 90 to 120 miles of range between charges, the company says.

UQM announced its propulsion system deal with Coda earlier this summer but hadn't provided specifics for transmission nor said that the association with BorgWarner would go beyond the Coda.

In a statement issued this morning, UQMs CEO, William Rankin, said the two companies intend "to offer vehicle makers a turn-key electric powertrain." John Sanderson, head of BorgWarner's drivetrain unit, said the jointly developed system would offer EV and hybrid makers "extraordinary performance and value."

We'll stop with the marketing stuff now but add our own thought:

With companies like Coda, Fisker Automotive and Tesla starting to show that you might not have to be a GM or Toyota to compete in the new, electrified automotive landscape, it's good to see a domestic partnership putting together a competitive and customizable powertrain system that could save nascent EV makers hundreds of million in development dollars. 

Posted by

John O'Dell September 3, 2009, 12:33 PM

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Coda, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric

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BorgWarner, Coda Automotive, EVs, Hybrids, UQM Technologies