Tsuyo Manufacturing announced on April 30 that it has been granted two patents for electric vehicle motor technologies, both of which the company describes as globally novel designs. The patents cover a non-magnetic bridge assisted synchronous reluctance motor and a fault-tolerant five-phase interior permanent magnet motor with dual inverter control. The development marks the latest step in the company's effort to build a domestic intellectual property base in a segment that has historically been dominated by manufacturers in China, Japan, and Europe.
The first patent introduces a non-magnetic bridge structure in synchronous reluctance motors, a category known as SynRM. Conventional SynRM designs use physical bridges within the rotor structure to maintain mechanical integrity, but these bridges allow magnetic flux to leak across the rotor, reducing the motor's efficiency.
Tsuyo's design uses a non-magnetic material in place of these bridges, which the company says reduces flux leakage, improves torque density, and increases the structural strength of the rotor. The architecture also reduces dependence on rare-earth materials such as neodymium, which are commonly used in permanent magnet motors.
Rare-earth supply chains have faced volatility in recent years, driven in part by China's dominant position in mining and processing these materials, making designs that reduce such dependence commercially relevant for manufacturers seeking to manage input costs and procurement risk.
The second patent covers a five-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor, or PMSM, paired with a dual inverter system. Most commercial EV motors operate on a three-phase configuration. A five-phase system distributes power across more phases, which can reduce torque ripple — the fluctuation in torque output that contributes to vibration and noise — and improve fault tolerance. The motor uses an open-end winding configuration, meaning both ends of each winding are accessible, allowing the dual inverter to control them independently.
This enables the system to switch dynamically between two operating modes: star mode, which optimises efficiency during startup and low-load conditions, and delta mode, which is engaged under higher torque demand. Critically, the system is designed to continue functioning if one of the five phases fails, allowing the vehicle to maintain operation rather than shutting down. The company says this makes the technology relevant to applications where unplanned failure carries greater consequences, including commercial freight vehicles, agricultural equipment, and off-road machinery.
Vijay Kumar, Founder and CEO of Tsuyo Manufacturing, described the patents as consistent with the company's broader research philosophy. "These patents mark a significant milestone and recognition in our mission to develop and promote Design-In-India technology for both domestic and global EV markets," he said in a statement.
"At Tsuyo, we are not merely creating components; we are engineering a comprehensive design approach, crafting fundamental technology to drive sustainable and impactful innovation." Kumar added that the company's in-house R&D team and academic partnerships allow it to develop modular designs that are both manufacturable at scale and adaptable across vehicle categories.
Both patents were developed with contributions from researchers at the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, under the guidance of professors Ritesh Keshari and Ramsha Sachin. The collaboration is part of a wider academic engagement model that Tsuyo says includes partnerships with IITs and international universities. Such industry-academia linkages have been encouraged by government policy in recent years as part of an effort to bring research institution output closer to commercial application in sectors identified as strategically important.
Tsuyo, headquartered in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, with two manufacturing facilities in the same region, says it has deployed over 300,000 powertrains to date and currently supplies more than 25 OEMs across a range of sectors. These include three-wheeler and four-wheeler commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment, and industrial machinery.
The company's motor portfolio spans outputs from 0.5 kW to 400 kW, covering the L3 and L5 segments as well as light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. It holds ISO 9001, 14001, and IATF certifications and identifies itself as the first Indian startup in the segment to engage in both direct and indirect exports. The company states it has sold more than 200,000 motors and partnered with over 50 OEMs over the past four years.
Tsuyo says it now holds over 29 patentable innovations across motor topologies, spanning new materials, construction methods, embedded software integration, and system engineering approaches. The company also recently received approval from the Government of Karnataka for a manufacturing expansion, which it says is intended to increase production capacity for advanced powertrains and support the PMeDrive mandate — a central government-backed initiative aimed at promoting the domestic manufacture of electric vehicle components and reducing import dependence in the sector.
India's EV market has expanded at a measurable pace over the past several years, supported by policies including the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles, or FAME, subsidy scheme and the Production Linked Incentive programme for advanced chemistry cells. Two- and three-wheelers have led adoption so far, with commercial and passenger four-wheelers growing more gradually. Despite this growth, much of the core technology embedded in Indian-assembled vehicles — including motors, controllers, and battery management systems — has continued to be sourced from overseas or manufactured under licence, a gap that policymakers and industry stakeholders have identified as a structural limitation on the sector's long-term competitiveness.
Against this backdrop, IP development has become a point of differentiation for Indian EV startups seeking to position themselves as technology originators rather than assemblers of imported components. Filing patents for foundational motor topologies, rather than incremental improvements to existing designs, signals an attempt to establish claims at an earlier stage of the technology stack. Whether such patents translate into licensing revenue, manufacturing advantage, or export competitiveness will depend on how widely the underlying technologies are adopted — both domestically and by OEMs in other markets where Indian powertrain exports are beginning to find footing.