What power does it make?

The Netgain HyPer 9 motor makes 173 lbs of torque at 0 RPMs. In most cars you’d drop this into is much more than enough power. For reference a 2020 Subaru BRZ makes about 151 lbs of torque. The HyPer 9 can do roughly 120hp but the actual in car horsepower largely depends on what car you put it into. 

What is a synchronous reluctance motor?

The HyPer 9 makes this power using its Synchronous Reluctance Internal Permanent Magnet (SRIPM). Now I’m not an engineer, I’m an average dude, but I’ll do my best to describe what that actually means and what the difference between this and a typical induction motor is. 

I’ll describe it in the simplest way I can so keep in mind this isn’t representative of completely how it works. In a typical induction motor, a rotor is propelled by being suspended between alternating electro magnets. This has been how most electric motors have worked since forever basically. This design improved with the introduction of a three-phase coil arrangement. The coil arrangement allowed for the ability to create a rotating magnetic field that moves the rotor. Not that long ago that design was improved with the invention of synchronous reluctance motors.

In a synchronous reluctance motor the rotor moves in sync with the rotating magnetic field created by the three-phase coil arrangement. But, there is some nuance to keeping the rotor in sync with the rotating magnetic field, so a motor controller using software controls the rotating magnetic field and is able to keep the rotor in the proper position at all times. The rotor is also shaped differently than a typical induction rotor, it’s essentially a long shaft that has plates along the whole thing. The plates have a tiny gap between them as well as they’re machined with non magnetic areas that help to create an optimal sync with the RMF (rotating magnetic field). 

They’re essentially a software controlled motor. This is what Tesla uses for their motors. It makes a huge difference in output torque, efficiency, and longevity. 

This is a great video if you want to learn more about synchronous reluctance motors.

What ev conversions would this be good for?

The HyPer 9 motor can really be used for nearly anything as its size is smaller than most typical ICEs (internal combustion engine). From motor to shaft, end-to-end, it’s 13.75” with a diameter of 9”. It weighs 120lbs so it’s a bit hefty, but not too big. You’ll need to either mate this to an adapter plate to the transmission or have a machined connection made to go from the shaft directly to the drivetrain or differential. Depends on where you’d like to put the motor, and whether you’d like to keep the cars standard gearing or not. 

On the NetGain website they’ve got a huge gallery of all the types of cars this motor has gone into. There are tons of applications for this motor, but I’d say this motor is best for anything you need a lot of reliability, that you’d like to be a manageable build that’s not too difficult. 

To give you a few ideas here are a few builds with this motor. 

This Leyland Mini is in the process of being converted and is a great candidate for this motor as it’s small, it doesn’t require a lot of horsepower.

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This is a picture of one by EV West in the back of a Porsche Speedster.

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Here it is in the back of another EV West build, the VW Bus.

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How much does a HyPer 9 motor cost?

The HyPer 9 motor is about $4,200 and it comes with the motor controller,  throttle, main contactor, low-voltage wire harness, and a diagnostic display. Which should be everything you need besides battery to get this thing to run on it’s own. 

You can buy it from EVWest here for $4,200, from Electric GT, or Thunderstruck EV.

Conclusion

The HyPer 9 has really been tried and tested and is a staple of the DIY ev conversion community. So there’s a huge benefit that a lot of other people have fooled around with it, and know a thing or two about it. So it’s a solid bet, but for me at that price I do wonder if it’s worth just going up to the next step which could be a small Tesla drive unit which has all the components in one housing and is about $3k more, but it also may require less fabrication and parts in the end.