BMW and Continental join the start-up Deep Drive

Munich In order to improve the efficiency of electric cars, there has been great progress in recent years, especially with batteries. “But especially with the engine itself, major leaps in development are still possible,” says Deepdrive founder Felix Pörnbacher. The start-up has developed a particularly light and efficient engine which the company believes has the potential to become a global standard one day.

The company has at least now been able to convince prominent investors such as the venture capital offshoots of BMW and Continental as well as the former head of development at Audi and Volvo. You participated in the start-up as part of the most recent 15 million euro financing round.

Deepdrive has developed a double rotor motor. In conventional electric motors, the rotor is usually on the inside, in rare cases on the outside. “The idea of ​​a double rotor that combines both is actually 100 years old,” says co-founder Stefan Ender. But only now has Deepdrive succeeded in developing the principle for series production. The motors have a significantly higher torque and power density than conventional electric motors.

Deepdrive: E-cars should have a longer range

The electric cars should thus have 20 percent more range than was previously the case with the same size battery. In addition, the motor is lighter and therefore requires fewer resources such as rare earths. Since the double rotor motors take up less space, they can also be used in the wheel hub without a gear. “This will be an interesting market segment,” says Pörnbacher.

The technology could become the standard, especially for central drives. “Then we’re talking about a market with sales of tens or hundreds of billions of euros a year,” says co-founder Ender. In his estimation, the company has protected the development well with a number of patents, and there is currently no competitor who is even remotely as far along.

Deepdrive founding team

The founders Stefan Ender, Maximilian Habersbrunner, Christopher Römmelmayer, Markus Domme (back from left), Felix Pörnbacher, Alexander Rosen and Dean Petrovski (front from left) were able to convince new investors.

(Photo: Deepdrive)

Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the Center Automotive Research says that the idea is fundamentally exciting. “It looks as if an interesting electric motor concept based on the dual-rotor principle has been created through technical improvements.” the rated power – could be significantly improved.

According to Deepdrive, it is in talks with eight of the ten largest car manufacturers in the world. Large-scale production is scheduled to start in 2026. The necessary capital was collected in the most recent financing round. “The highly efficient electric motors bring great advantages in terms of weight, costs and space utilization,” said Marcus Behrendt from the investment subsidiary BMW i Ventures. The aim now is scaling to large series. “We are pleased that with our participation we can help this new technology to achieve a breakthrough.”

>> Read also: What electric car buyers should know now

In addition to the venture capital units of BMW and Continental, UVC Partners and Bavarian growth funds, which had already been involved in previous financing rounds, also invested again. In addition, there is the former Audi development board member Mertens. He said BMW and Conti’s commitment could help on the road to mass production. Deepdrive has “what it takes to set a new standard in the industry”.

Jürgen Bilo from the Continental Corporate Venture Capital Unit takes a similar view: “After assessing the overall concept and the efficiency of the motor, we are convinced that Deepdrive can decisively advance the market penetration of electromobility.”

BMW wants to be present early on in new technologies

Deepdrive sees the commitment of the Dax companies more as a financial investment. But BMW’s commitment shows that the young company is taken seriously in the industry. After all, the car manufacturer itself develops electric motors as well as conventional drives for its vehicles with a much larger budget.

The developers of electric motors at BMW are constantly scanning their department for new developments and can thus competently evaluate innovations, says Behrendt. “They have confirmed that Deepdrive development has great potential.”

>> Read also: VW wants to increasingly manufacture components for the electric drive itself

BMW wants to be present at an early stage in technologies that could become established in a few years through the holdings of i Ventures, which makes its investment decisions independently of the headquarters. To this end, the group set up another 300 million dollar fund in 2021, which is to be used primarily to invest in sustainability and electromobility.

For example, BMW i Ventures was the lead investor in Mangrove Lithium. The Canadian company has developed a technology that converts virgin and recycled raw lithium directly into battery-grade material through an electrochemical process. This reduces production costs and consumes significantly less energy.

BMW also invested in the start-up Solid Power, which is working on the development of solid cell batteries. The technology is considered a possible successor to today’s lithium-ion batteries. The company hopes to deploy the technology by 2025, putting it ahead of the competition.

Deepdrive now wants to find a car manufacturer as quickly as possible who is aiming for a large series with double rotor engines. “We are convinced that we can become a big player,” says founder Pörnbacher. On the way there, an IPO is conceivable.

More: BMW also intends to continue investing in the internal combustion engine.

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