Brushed motors excel in cost-sensitive and low-demand uses, brushless motors offer efficiency and life, permanent magnet motors provide high performance, tandem motors excel in high torque needs, and compound motors balance versatility and precision.
Brushed DC Motor
Brushed DC motors account for nearly 40% of the global small motor market. In 2024, brushed motors accounted for about 60% of the market share in low-end and mid-range products, and their sales have increased by 15% in just three years.
A standard brushed DC motor usually has a power range of 50W to 1000W. Taking electric scooters as an example, a 250W brushed motor can provide users with an average speed of 25 kilometers per hour and support a range of about 40 kilometers when fully charged. The efficiency of brushed motors is usually about 75%, while brushless motors can reach more than 90%. The initial purchase cost of brushed motors is only 50% to 60% of that of brushless motors.
A 750W brushed motor for industrial assembly lines costs about 500 to 800 yuan, while the price of brushless motors of the same power often exceeds 1000 yuan. The carbon brushes of brushed motors cost about 20 to 50 yuan and usually need to be replaced after 1000 hours of use. The maintenance cost of brushless motors is often as high as more than 30% of the motor’s price.
A concrete mixer using a brushed motor can achieve 95% of the rated power torque output at startup, while the same type of brushless equipment can only reach 80%. The service life of ordinary brushed motors is about 2,000 to 3,000 hours, while the improved models of high-end brands can reach more than 5,000 hours. The addition of high-efficiency heat sinks and air cooling devices keeps the temperature below 45 degrees Celsius, thereby reducing the wear rate of carbon brushes by about 20%. The use of wear-resistant materials reduces friction losses by 15%.
In an industrial fan that runs continuously for 24 hours, test data shows that its temperature rises from the ambient temperature of 25 degrees Celsius to 80 degrees Celsius. It is recommended to check it every 800 hours. More than 70% of the economical household vacuum cleaners on the market still use brushed DC motors because they can achieve high speeds of more than 30,000 revolutions per minute at a power of 1,200W. The price of such vacuum cleaners is usually between 500 yuan and 800 yuan. Many medium-sized agricultural sprayers use 500W to 1000W brushed motors that run at 1500 rpm and can maintain stable operation while covering 2 hectares of farmland per hour. New sprayers are 30% more durable.
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Brushless DC motors
Brushless DC motors account for more than 52% of the global motor market, up nearly 20 percentage points from a decade ago. Brushless motors are more than 90% more efficient than traditional brushed motors, while the average efficiency of brushed motors is about 75%. Factories that use brushless motors can save about 15% of their electricity costs each year.
A standard brushless DC motor usually lasts more than 10,000 hours, while brushed motors require multiple maintenance or replacements after 5,000 hours. A robotic arm using a brushless motor can maintain 90% of its torque output after 6,000 hours of continuous operation, while a brushed motor under the same conditions can only maintain about 70% of its performance. Brushless motors can reduce maintenance costs for companies by about 20% each year.
Drones use 200W to 500W brushless motors, while large industrial equipment often uses models above 3,000W. A commercial drone equipped with an 800W brushless motor can achieve a cruising speed of 60 kilometers per hour under standard load conditions, while drones using brushed motors of the same power usually do not exceed 45 kilometers.
A medium-sized electric vehicle equipped with a 1500W brushless motor can control its power consumption per 100 kilometers to less than 12 kWh, while traditional brushed motor electric vehicles often consume up to 15 kWh per 100 kilometers. After switching to brushless motors, the market feedback of its products has increased by nearly 30%, the maintenance cycle of the whole vehicle has been extended by 25%, and the cost can be reduced by about 300 yuan per year.
The average noise level of a 2000W brushless DC motor when running at full load is 45 decibels, while the noise level of a brushed motor with the same power is as high as 65 decibels. The noise level of medical equipment driven by brushless motors has dropped by 30%.
The production line driven by brushless motors saves about 10% of manufacturing time. The average response time of brushless motors is only 0.02 seconds, while the response time of traditional brushed motors is 0.05 seconds. The energy efficiency ratio of the intelligent brushless motor system is 18% higher than that of the ordinary system.
A standard brushless motor with a power of 1000W usually costs between 1200 yuan and 1800 yuan, while a brushed motor with the same power costs about 700 yuan to 1000 yuan. The overall cost of use can be reduced by 20% to 30% within five years.
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Permanent magnet DC motor
In 2024, permanent magnet DC motors accounted for 35% of the global DC motor market, and the annual growth rate of demand in the new energy industry was as high as 12%. The efficiency can usually reach more than 90%, which is about 15% higher than that of traditional brushed motors.
High-end household appliances use permanent magnet DC motors with a power of 200W to 600W. These products can provide a speed of up to 30,000 revolutions per minute when running at full power. The power consumption of such products is usually reduced by 25% compared with traditional motor products. Taking a fan that is used for 2 hours a day as an example, the use of permanent magnet DC motors can save about 80 kWh of electricity per year, which is equivalent to reducing the user’s electricity bill by about 100 yuan.
On a conveyor belt production line using permanent magnet DC motors, a motor with an operating power of 1500W can run continuously for 24 hours at a speed of 2 meters per second, while the temperature is always kept below 60 degrees Celsius. The annual downtime of such production lines has been reduced by about 15%, saving the company more than 100,000 yuan in downtime costs each year.
A high-efficiency permanent magnet DC motor can provide a torque output of 50 Nm at 3000 rpm, while an induction motor of the same power can only reach about 35 Nm. Electric vehicles equipped with permanent magnet DC motors can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h 0.5 seconds faster than traditional electric vehicles.
A permanent magnet DC motor for surgical robotic arms weighs only 500 grams, but can provide up to 10 Nm of torque and has a positioning accuracy of 0.01 degrees. Ordinary stepper motors weigh 800 grams and have a positioning accuracy of 0.05 degrees. The success rate of surgeries using such equipment has increased by more than 3%.
A permanent magnet DC motor with a power of 1000W usually costs between 1500 yuan and 2500 yuan, while traditional motors cost only about 1000 yuan. The price of permanent magnet materials in 2023 will be nearly 20% lower than in 2020. If a manufacturing enterprise adopts permanent magnet DC motors, although the initial investment increases by about 20%, it can recover the cost within three years, and the overall operating cost can be reduced by 15% to 25% within five years.
The life of permanent magnet DC motors can reach 20,000 hours. After 4,000 hours of continuous operation, the performance retention rate of permanent magnet DC motors is 98%, while the performance of traditional motors drops to 85%. The conversion efficiency of a permanent magnet motor with an output power of 5 kilowatts under rated conditions can reach more than 93%, while that of traditional motors is only 85%. If more efficient permanent magnet motors are widely used in wind power generation equipment around the world, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by about 5 million tons per year.
The permanent magnet DC propulsion motor developed by an aviation equipment company weighs only 10 kilograms and has a power of 2 kilowatts. It can operate stably for 72 hours in an underwater environment up to 5,000 meters. Data shows that its pressure resistance is 30% higher than that of ordinary motors.
Series-excited DC motor
In the global motor market in 2023, the market share of series-excited DC motors is 18%. In the field of electric trains, a 500-kW series-excited DC motor can accelerate to 60 km/h in just 15 seconds, while an induction motor of the same power takes 25 seconds to reach the same speed.
When the current increases from 50% to 100% of the rated value, the output torque of the series-excited motor can increase by about 1.8 times. A series-excited motor rated at 100 kW can generate up to 450 Nm of torque at startup, enough to lift 10 tons of cargo in a short time.
A 2,000-watt series-excited motor costs about 1,200 to 1,800 yuan, while a brushless motor of the same power often costs more than 2,500 yuan. The efficiency of a series-excited DC motor when running at high load is usually between 65% and 75%, which is slightly inferior to the more than 90% of a brushless motor. Under the condition of continuous operation for 6 hours, a 5000W series motor consumes about 30 kWh, while a high-efficiency brushless motor of the same power consumes only 26 kWh.
The average life of a high-quality series motor is about 8000 hours. If the operating environment humidity exceeds 70% or the temperature is continuously above 80 degrees Celsius, the motor life may be shortened by 20%. Therefore, it is recommended to check the motor status every 1000 hours.
A 1500W series DC motor can mix up to 200 liters of concrete in one minute. Replacing traditional asynchronous motor equipment with series DC motor equipment reduces equipment downtime by about 10% each year and saves more than 300,000 yuan in maintenance costs.
A 3000W electric vehicle with a series DC motor can reach a starting acceleration of 40 km/h in 5 seconds and a climbing ability of 30 degrees. When this type of motor is running at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour on urban roads, the current consumption is maintained at about 40 amperes, and the cruising range can reach 60 kilometers.
After a 5000-watt series-excited DC motor runs at full load for 1 hour, the temperature can reach 85 degrees Celsius, and the temperature can be controlled below 60 degrees Celsius after installing a high-efficiency heat dissipation device. The series-excited motor used in a mine conveyor belt has a power of 100 kilowatts and can transport 200 tons of ore per hour. Under high-load conditions, the torque output of the motor can reach 1.5 times the rated torque, while the output torque of similar induction motors in similar scenarios is only 1.2 times the rated value.
After a 1200-watt household vacuum cleaner is equipped with a series-excited motor, it can generate a high-speed rotation of more than 20,000 revolutions per minute, and the suction force can reach 20 kilopascals. More than 70% of high-power vacuum cleaners still use series-excited DC motors, and the market price of each vacuum cleaner is about 600 to 1,000 yuan.
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Shunt-excited DC motors
Shunt-excited DC motors account for about 22% of the industrial motor market, and their application ratio exceeds 35%. They maintain a stable speed when the voltage changes, and the fluctuation is usually no more than 2%. The speed fluctuation range of a series-excited motor under similar conditions can reach more than 10%.
The power range of a shunt-excited DC motor is usually between 500 watts and 50 kilowatts. For example, in an automotive parts manufacturer, a 10-kilowatt shunt-excited DC motor is used in the conveyor belt system, which can run continuously for 8 hours at a speed of 2 meters per minute, and the motor temperature is stable below 50 degrees Celsius. After one year of continuous operation, the system has reduced the average downtime by 15%, saving the company more than 120,000 yuan in maintenance costs and production losses each year.
A shunt-excited motor with a rated power of 5 kilowatts can reach an efficiency of 87% at 50% load, and the efficiency remains above 84% at 100% load. A shunt-excited motor system used on a textile production line can operate continuously at 1,000 revolutions per minute, increasing production efficiency by about 8%.
A 200-kW shunt motor can travel smoothly at 50 km/h on a track with a 15-degree slope while keeping the current output below 380 amps. A shunt DC motor system can reduce energy consumption by about 5%.
The service life of a shunt DC motor is between 7,000 and 10,000 hours, and the service life of high-end models can even reach more than 12,000 hours. Take an elevator manufacturing company as an example. The company uses a 15-kW shunt DC motor in the elevator drive system of a high-rise building. In the test after 3,000 hours of continuous use, the carbon brush wear rate was less than 15%. Compared with traditional brushed motors of the same power, the frequency of carbon brush replacement is reduced by about 30%.
The overall energy efficiency ratio of the shunt DC motor using an intelligent control system has increased by 12%, and the failure rate has decreased by about 25%. A shunt motor used for laboratory test equipment has a startup time of only 0.03 seconds after receiving a command, and the positioning accuracy can reach 0.005 rpm. An automatic rotary table driven by a 1-kW shunt motor can complete a 360-degree rotation in 5 seconds with an error of less than 0.1 degrees.
The market price of a 20-kW shunt motor is usually between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan, while the price of a series motor of the same power is about 15,000 yuan. After a medium-sized manufacturing company switched to a shunt motor, although the initial investment increased by 20%, it paid back in three years. A shunt DC motor ran continuously for 48 hours in an environment of minus 30 degrees Celsius, and the power output was stable at more than 95%, while other types of DC motors under the same conditions decreased by about 10%.
Servo DC motor
The market share of servo DC motors in the high-end manufacturing industry has reached 42%, with an annual compound growth rate of up to 9.8%. The positioning accuracy of servo DC motors can reach 0.01 degrees, and the response time is usually within 0.02 seconds. The power range of servo DC motors is usually 50 watts to tens of kilowatts. A 5-kW servo DC motor can achieve 600 packaging operations per minute on a food packaging line with an error rate of less than 0.5%. After the introduction of the servo motor system, the efficiency of the production line has increased by 15%, saving more than 200,000 yuan in production costs each year.
Under the condition of 80% of the rated power, the efficiency of a 3-kW servo DC motor can be as high as 92%. The efficiency of an ordinary DC motor with the same power is about 75%. Calculated at 300 hours of operation per month, the servo motor can save about 150 kWh of electricity per month, which is equivalent to reducing electricity bills by nearly 2,000 yuan per year. In the control system of a certain model of drone, a 200-watt servo motor can complete direction adjustment within 0.1 seconds with a deviation of less than 0.05 degrees. The temperature range can be controlled between -40℃ and 85℃.
The life of a servo DC motor is usually 10,000 to 15,000 hours, while the life of high-end models can reach more than 20,000 hours. In the automatic assembly line of a large automobile manufacturer, the performance retention rate of the 8-kilowatt servo DC motor used in the test after one year of continuous operation was as high as 98%, while the performance retention rate of traditional motors was only 85%. About 10% of maintenance costs can be saved each year.
The average failure rate of servo DC motors with intelligent closed-loop systems has been reduced by 25%, and energy efficiency has been improved by 8%. On an electronic product production line, a 4-kilowatt servo motor can achieve precise positioning and operation at a frequency of 10 times per second, and its peak torque can reach more than 3 times the rated value. This type of production line can reduce the defective rate by 5% each year.
A 1-kilowatt servo DC motor usually costs between 8,000 yuan and 12,000 yuan, while an ordinary DC motor of the same power is only priced at about 3,000 yuan. The total cost of ownership of servo motors can be reduced by 20% to 30% within five years. A 15-kilowatt servo DC motor can still maintain an accuracy error of no more than 0.1 degrees after running at an acceleration of 10G for 30 minutes.
Hybrid DC motor
The application rate of hybrid DC motors in industrial control and automation systems has reached 27%. Hybrid DC motors can provide up to 1.8 times the rated torque when starting at full load, with a fluctuation range of less than 2%. A large paper mill installed a 15-kilowatt hybrid DC motor on its production line, and the operating speed can be adjusted steplessly between 1000 and 2000 revolutions per minute. After switching to hybrid motors, the paper cutting error rate of the production line was reduced from 0.8% to 0.3%, and the annual reduction in defective products can save more than 500,000 yuan in production costs.
The power range of hybrid DC motors is usually 5 kW to 200 kW. On a metallurgical rolling mill with a rated power of 100 kW, the hybrid DC motor can provide up to 450 Nm of torque output when running at full load, and the temperature remains below 70 degrees Celsius after 12 hours of continuous operation, while the temperature of induction motors of the same power often exceeds 85 degrees Celsius.
In scenarios with frequent load changes, its average efficiency can reach 85% to 90%. Taking a 30-kW hybrid DC motor as an example, the monthly operation time is 300 hours, and the total power consumption is about 8,100 kWh, while the power consumption of a traditional asynchronous motor of the same power is usually more than 9,500 kWh. It can save about 15,000 yuan in electricity bills each year.
The life of a hybrid DC motor is usually between 10,000 and 15,000 hours, and the service life of high-end models can even reach 20,000 hours. A 200-kW hybrid DC motor system was introduced into the ore hoisting equipment. In the equipment inspection of 5,000 hours of continuous operation, the wear rate of the carbon brush and commutator was less than 10%, and the motor performance retention rate was as high as 97%. The company reduces the equipment maintenance cost by about 30% each year, saving more than 800,000 yuan in maintenance costs.
A CNC machine tool driven by a 10-kW hybrid DC motor has a machining accuracy of 0.01 mm, which is 30% higher than the traditional motor system. A high-end manufacturing company increased its annual production capacity by 10% by replacing ordinary motors with hybrid motors, which increased its market sales by 8%.
In a test of high-altitude power construction equipment, after a 50-kilowatt hybrid DC motor ran for 48 hours at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, the motor temperature stabilized below 65 degrees Celsius and the output power fluctuation did not exceed 2%. In contrast, the power output of the same type of brushless motor decreased by 5% under the same conditions.
After adopting the intelligent hybrid motor system, the overall energy efficiency ratio increased by 12% and the annual failure rate decreased by 20%.
The market price of a 50-kilowatt hybrid motor is usually between 80,000 and 100,000 yuan, while the price of an ordinary DC motor of the same power is only about 60,000 yuan. The advantages of hybrid motors can reduce their total cost of use by 20% to 25% within 5 years. For more insights on motor benefits, visit this resource.
