2nd IEEE International Conference on Power and Energy (PECon 08), December 1-3, 2008, Johor Baharu, Malaysia
Evaluating the Potential of Solenoid Motion Sys-
tem for Electric Vehicle – Challenging the Con-
ventional Usage of Electric Motor
Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Kamarul Bahrin, Noor Miza Muhamad Razali, Thahirah Syed Jalal, Ungku Anisa
Ungku Amirulddin
Department of Electrical Power, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Selangor, Malaysia. Email: SZainal@uniten.edu.my
Abstract - Designing an electric vehicle (EV) using electric
motor as its prime mover is very common. However, incor-
porating the electric motor to the overall EV design is rela-
tively complex. The latest layout design of an EV requires a
complex controller to govern the whole system especially the
electric motors. Due to this complexity, the authors have
developed an alternative electromagnetic prime mover for
EV to replace the existing electric motor. This new prime
mover is designed based on the solenoid concept and the
internal combustion engine (ICE) working mechanisms. In
this paper, the authors are introducing a new electromag-
netic prime mover known as Solenoid Powered Engine
(SPE). The paper describes the SPE underlying concepts, its
comparison with electric motor in EV design, overall system
layout, operations and characteristics.
Keywords - Solenoid; Solenoid Motion; Electromagnetic
Prime Mover; Electric Vehicle (EV)
I. INTRODUCTION
For the past few decades, the use of electric vehicle
(EV) is becoming popular in the automotive industry and
slowly gained some interest from the public community.
This is due to the fact that these vehicles are widely
known for their zero emission and powered by renewable
energy sources. In general, EVs are driven and controlled
by the integration of electrical, electronics and also me-
chanical components but the main component that actu-
ally moves these vehicles is the electric motor. Electric
motor works on the principles of electromagnetic by con-
verting electrical energy to kinetic energy. This energy
conversion is the main purpose of an electric motor and it
is thus far, the only known prime mover for a non-tracked
EV that operates solely on electricity [1] [2] [3]. Even
hybrid vehicles utilise electric motors as one of their
prime mover [4]. That is why electric motors are highly
popularised in most EVs designs.
Basically, EVs are utilising one or more electric motors
to operate. Conventional EVs are usually configured to
equip each wheel with an electric motor. The Eliica
(Electric Lithium-Ion Car) for example, has eight wheels
and each wheel is driven by a 60kW electric motor which
produces a total amount of 480kW of power. This amount
of power can accelerate the vehicle from 0-100 km/h
1-4244-2405-4/08/$20.00 ©2008 IEEE
within four seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 370
km/h [5]. In term of electronics controller, this particular
configuration requires all the electric motors to be con-
trolled individually especially the front wheels which are
very essential for manoeuvrability. The direction of ma-
noeuvrability must be corresponding to the speed of each
electric motor so that the vehicle can manoeuvre
smoothly at any directions. However, this typical type of
configuration has a few drawbacks especially on design
complexity [6], maintenance and cost. Equipping each
wheel with an electric motor can improve performance
but the overall weight, maintenance and cost has in-
creased. This configuration will also increase the com-
plexity design of its electronics controller. Almost every
single electric motor is controlled individually but each
motor is dependable on one another in order for the vehi-
cle to operate smoothly. This complexity will once again
increase the overall cost. EV conversion is also difficult
to be done on a gasoline car by using electric motors be-
cause a lot of modifications are required.
The downside design of EVs has lead to another alter-
native to replace the existing electric motors. This paper
proposes a new prime mover for EV called solenoid pow-
ered engine (SPE) and highlights the SPE main concept,
operations and characteristics.
II. SPE CONCEPT FOR EV
A. SPE Fundamentals
Solenoid working mechanisms are based on the princi-
ples of electromagnetic by converting electrical energy to
kinetic energy. Unlike electric motor which creates circu-
lar motion, solenoid creates linear motion as a form of
kinetic energy which is depicted in Fig. 1. The solenoid’s
plunger (darken) can move inside the solenoid or out of
the solenoid and thus creates linear or reciprocating mo-
tion [8].
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 2nd IEEE International Conference on Power and Energy (PECon 08), December 1-3, 2008, Johhor Baharu, Malaysia

more convenient compared to electric motor. Basically,

the EV design requires one SPE E to generate motion which
is a distinguish feature of a staandard gasoline car design.
A single SPE can produce mottion at each wheel if suffi-
cient power is generated. Thiss is the main advantage of
using SPE instead of electric motors
m in EV design. Only
one prime mover is required for EV-SPE based design
instead of multiple prime movvers for EV-electric motor
based design. The design compparison of EV using electric
motor and SPE is shown in Figg. 3.

Fig. 1. The motions of an (a) electric motor and a (b) solenoid.

This linear motion can be convertedd to a circular mo-

tion through different types of medium m like crankshaft,
freewheel, grooves (for rotary solenoid)), etc [7]. The SPE
concept design is based on reciprocatingg motion of a con-
ventional internal combustion engine (IICE) with flat lay-
out. Both of these engines operate in thee same manner but
the overall design is totally different. Flat
F ICE as shown
in Fig. 2 has a natural dynamic balancee and lower centre
of gravity compared to the other enggine layouts. This
engine runs very smoothly and free of vibration
v but tends
to produce more noise because the valvve clatter is not so
well damped [8]. However, SPE doesn’t require any Fig. 3. The conventional EV designn using (a) electric motors and (b)
valve components because it is poweredd through electric- SPE.
ity. So, the noise problem can be ignoored and SPE can
benefits the entire advantages of a flat layout
l design. The III. SPE PRELIMINA
ARY DESIGN AND
nonexistence of valve components wiill also cause the OPERATTION
SPE to be lighter and has less movinng parts which re- A. System Layout
duces the overall frictions. Since SPE power generation is
not based on volume expansion, SPE has fewer cycles The main layout of a SPE consists
c of solenoids, feed-
compared to ICE. The core operationss of SPE are con- back mechanism, power transsistor and microcontroller.
trolled by one or more microcontrollerrs for solenoid en- The system layout is illustratedd in Fig. 4.
ergising timing. The SPE microcontrolller is a comparable
feature of an engine control unit (ECU) for ICE.

Fig. 4. Proposed SP
PE system layout.

As a whole engine design, SPE is based on mechanical

and electronic components. Soolenoid, freewheel and out-
put shaft are mechanical compoonents that drive the whole
engine motion. These interconnnected mechanical compo-
nents are shown in Fig. 5(a). The
T remaining components
are electronic components thaat are systematically inte-
grated to develop an electronicc controller. This electronic
Fig. 2. Flat/Boxer ICE. controller monitors and governns the whole SPE operation
system. The current SPE prottotype overall structure is
B. Implementation For EV
shown in Fig. 5(b). This prottotype model 2H10U-1 is
The overall EV design layout using SPE is quite simi- powered by a 17V power suppply, using two solenoids
lar to a conventional gasoline car desiggn with the absent rated at 16V each and a PIC serries microcontroller.
of air intake and exhaust system. So, performing
p an EV
conversion on a gasoline car using SPES is supposedly

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 2nd IEEE International Conference on Power and Energy (PECon 08), December 1-3, 2008, Johhor Baharu, Malaysia

Fig. 6. Freewheel will be locked too the output shaft when the sole-
noid(s) are ennergising.

Solenoids are energised thrrough the electronics con-

troller system. This electroniccs controller must be very
responsive because the plunger movement is very fast
when the solenoid is energisedd [10]. Basically, the act of
energising and de-energising the solenoids depends on
the power transistor switchiing state. The feedback
mechanism will determine thee plunger position and re-
turns a signal to the microcontrroller. Then, the microcon-
troller will decide the switchinng state of the power tran-
sistor. The feedback mechanism m is also important in set-
ting up profiles for SPE to immprove efficiency and per-
formance. SPE profiles are not within the coverage of this
paper.
Fig. 5. (a) SPE mechanical assembly and (b) thhe miniature size pre- ACTERISTICS
IV. SPE CHARA
liminary lab-scale SPE model 2H10U-1.
The SPE characteristics arre based on a prototype
B. Operation model 4H17U-1 as shown in Fiig. 7. This prototype model
The SPE operations are underlined by its two cycles. is powered by a 48V power suupply, using four solenoids
The first cycle will move the plunger into the solenoid rated at 24V each and controllled by a PIC series micro-
which is moving away from its originaal position and the controller.
second cycle will move the plunger ouut of the solenoid
back to its original position. The plungger will move into
the solenoid when the solenoid is eneergised and it can
move back to its original position through a return
mechanism i.e. spring, rubber band, etc. As shown in Fig.
6, the SPE will only generate motion orr power to the out-
put shaft when the solenoid(s) are enerrgised. This is due
to the freewheel mechanism. SPE uses freewheel instead
of crankshaft because it holds a few advvantages primarily
on the stroke length and engine start up.. The stroke length
can be varied to select a range of soleenoid energy band
[9] which can operate the SPE in diffeerent profiles. The
SPE can also be started without any exxternal momentum
which is required in ICE because the pllunger is always in
its original position every time the soleenoid is just about
to energise. Freewheel mechanism also allows the SPE to
function independently for each unit. One unit of SPE
consists of one or multiple solenoidss with a common
feedback mechanism. This independency is practically
convenient for maintenance and solenoid fail-
ure/breakdown situation. Fig. 7 (a) SPE prototype model 4HH17U-1 with the feedback mecha-
nism (circled), (b) microcontrolller and (c) power transistor.

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The torque – speed characteristic of this model is illus-

trated in Fig. 8. The graph plots are based on a constant
load and variable stroke lengths.

Speed,  rpm
Torque,  N.m

Stroke, s mm

Fig. 10 SPE model 4H17U-1 speed vs. stroke graph.

Speed,  rpm

Fig. 8 SPE model 4H17U-1 torque vs. speed graph.

From this graph, it can be observed that the engine’s

torque is proportional to its speed for up to a certain point
as indicated by the dotted lines. The engine’s speed will
start to decrease drastically and the engine’s torque will
reach its maximum value before the value drops in a
similar manner as the speed. The reason for this particular
phenomenon is stroke length. As depicted in Fig. 9 and
Fig. 10, the engine’s torque and speed will decrease sig-
nificantly at a certain stroke length which is generally
known as maximum stroke length. The engine’s torque
Fig. 11 SPE model 4H17U-1 force vs. stroke graph.
and speed will no longer increase from this point on-
wards. Thus, it is not practical to operate the engine V. CONCLUSIONS
above the maximum stroke length due to inefficiency.
SPE is one of the possible alternative prime movers for
The maximum stroke length is strongly related to the
an EV. Theoretically, this engine holds a few advantages
solenoid force – stroke characteristic. This particular SPE
when compared to an electric motor. However, SPE de-
model has a force – stroke characteristic as illustrated in
velopment is still in its early stages and future studies and
Fig. 11 for its four solenoids. The graph is not linear
improvements are required to further refine the SPE wide
since the force decreases exponentially as the stroke
potential. In overall view, this design has less complexity
length increases. The graph even shows that at a certain
and most probably solves all the issues of electric motor
value of stroke length or higher, the force is too low to
in EV design.
provide an adequate amount of acceleration and initial
torque to the system. This explains the eventual drop of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
torque and speed values at that particular point.
The authors wish to thank Mr. Abdul Talip Zulkarnain
for providing equipment in data acquisition and also to
Mr. Syed Sulaiman Kaja Mohideen for providing some
insights.
Torque,  N.m

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