A team of engineers, previously involved with Lucid Motors and Apple’s electric car initiative, has established a new startup aimed at introducing innovative electric hub motors. This new company, named Conifer, has developed a motor that eliminates the use of rare earth elements by utilizing more plentiful ferrite magnets. This choice, according to the company, not only reduces costs but also mitigates supply chain risks. In addition, Conifer claims their unique stator provides higher efficiency and power than similar options, while being significantly smaller.
The launch of Conifer coincides with a time marked by volatile tariffs and trade tensions with China, making its entry timely. Conifer’s technology has attracted substantial financial support, raising a $20 million seed round from a group of deep tech investors, including True Ventures, MaC Ventures, and MFV Partners. Rohit Sharma from True Ventures has joined Conifer’s board.
The emergence of Conifer happens amid a period of rapid advancement in electric motor development. Other companies, like Germany’s DeepDrive and Finland’s Donut Lab, are also exploring innovative approaches to enhance efficiency, power, and cost-effectiveness in electric motors. This occurs as battery prices, while still declining, are not experiencing the dramatic reductions seen in the past decade.
Conifer is initially focusing on the small mobility sector with its “drop-in” hub motor, which allows customers to replace existing hub motors without major design alterations. Its target market includes on- and off-road vehicles with two, three, or four wheels. Additionally, interest has been shown by lawnmower and tractor manufacturers, and even HVAC companies. The startup has already secured several global customers and plans to commence production motor shipments later this year.
Ankit Somani, a co-founder of Conifer, expressed his frustration to TechCrunch over the lack of investment and innovation in electric motors. Although he does not share the same experience with electric vehicle companies as his colleagues, he has closely followed the field as an EV enthusiast. Somani noted that while there has been significant investment in battery technology, the powertrain has not received similar attention, presenting Conifer with a market opportunity.
Conifer’s novel motor design and manufacturing strategies are a result of this market opportunity. The company aims to localize its supply chain around its production facilities by using more commonly available magnets. Additionally, Conifer plans to highly automate and adapt its manufacturing lines to produce different sized motors on the same line.
This concept of a localized, highly automated “microfactory” is reminiscent of ideas from other companies like Arrival, which did not succeed before testing the concept. Somani suggests that Conifer’s motors are significantly less complex than cars, decreasing the risk of this approach. The company intends to gradually automate manufacturing of specific subsystems rather than fully automating from the outset.
Somani’s strategy for selling the motors involves emphasizing Conifer’s motor as a direct improvement. He emphasizes the simplicity and advantage of Conifer’s product by stating that replacing an existing hub motor with Conifer’s version can offer a 10% range improvement, allowing discussions about costs and other considerations to follow.
