Saietta wins order for 3,000 eDrives from US EV maker Ayro

Saietta Group, the British electric drive (eDrive) specialist, has received an order for 3,000 electric drive (eDrive) units from Ayro Inc, the US-based low-speed electric vehicle (LSEV) company.

With deliveries commencing in Q3 2023, the Saietta eDrive units will power the new Ayro Vanish, a utility LSEV designed to support campus mobility, last-mile delivery and micro-distribution, which will enter production later this year.

Saietta states that over the last 12 months, it has worked closely with Ayro to design, engineer, test and validate a bespoke eDrive which will deliver class-leading performance and high efficiency on urban duty cycles for the new Ayro Vanish.

LSEVs are programmed for maximum speeds up to 25mph/40kph. The Ayro Vanish, which offers highly adaptable bed configurations to support both light-duty and heavy-duty needs in a variety of applications, has a range of 50 miles / 80 kilometres on a single charge. As per the Ayro website, the Ayro LSEV has a maximum payload of 1,200 pounds, dependent on final vehicle configuration. The Ayro Vanish addresses a market that falls between full size trucks and golf and utility carts. With the payload capacity of a pickup truck, it’s still compact enough to navigate narrow pathways and double doors.

The Ayro Vanish offers adaptable bed configurations to support both light-duty and heavy-duty applications, has a range of 80km on a single charge.

Tony Gott, executive chairman, Saietta Group, commented, “We are delighted to be working with Ayro. It underscores Saietta’s extensive engineering capabilities, from designing and developing high-tech eDrive systems that meet the exacting requirements of individual customer applications, through to helping the OEM, such as Ayro, to seamlessly implement and integrate our powertrain solutions into next-generation zero-emissions vehicles.”

He added, “Speed to market is key for OEMs as lightweight mobility rapidly transitions to electric propulsion globally. Saietta has developed a competitive advantage from engineering complete eDrive solutions specifically for this market sector with plenty of modularity built into the designs. This means we can work closely with clients to quickly tailor the core technology to their specific application, thereby rapidly and cost effectively delivering bespoke solutions which provide a competitive advantage. Our flexible approach is the polar opposite of ‘one size fits all’.

With significant growth anticipated across the final mile delivery sector globally, today’s order reinforces that there is clear demand for our products and services around the world, very much including in the U.S.”

Tom Wittenschlaeger, CEO of AYRO, noted, “Over the last year, we have been impressed by Saietta’s innovation, flexibility and engineering pace. As we approach the start of production for the revolutionary new Ayro Vanish, Saietta is the natural eDrive partner for Ayro. We believe that their eDrive solution, amongst numerous other class-leading innovations, will put us best-in-class in our segment.”

Saietta’s AFT electric motors are designed to optimally deliver high torque, high power and high efficiency on urban duty cycles at low voltage and rpm.

AFT140i optimised for urban delivery vehicles

Saietta’s Axial Flux Technology (AFT) electric motors are designed to optimally deliver high torque, high power and high efficiency on urban duty cycles at low voltage and rpm. The company’s first commercial electric motor, the AFT140i, features a fully sealed and liquid cooled design that is optimised for use in urban delivery vehicles. Being axial flux architecture, the motor is compact and lightweight, helping to maximise the space available for cargo and occupants. The AFT140i also features a fully integrated controller into the same housing with a shared cooling system and this unit is mated to a transmission which has been designed specifically for the eDrive.

The Ayro bespoke solution has passed rigorous in-vehicle testing, assessment and validation, proving it to be highly durable and robust and well aligned to the typical daily stop-start journeys of urban vehicles in the U.S.

The global final mile delivery market is projected to grow almost 16% CAGR and by $165.6 billion by 2027. In the U.S. alone, this sector is expected to grow around 7% and by $15 billion in the same time period1.

In March 2023, the Saietta Group inked a partnership with India's AVTEC, aimed at combining Saietta’s motor and inverter expertise with AVTEC’s established capabilities in transmission design and manufacture in India. Saietta VNA, a joint venture formed in May 2021 in India between the Saietta Group and Padmini VNA, is to will produce the electric motors and inverters in its Indian manufacturing plant and combine these with transmissions from AVTEC manufactured at its plant in India. The resulting 48V-96V eDrive solutions are designed to be lightweight, compact and cost competitive for light-duty electric vehicles in India.

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All Ayro Vanish images: courtesy AYRO Inc