Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Electric motors and drives: Equipment and suppliers

Copper, steel, magnets and the drives that control them

What this tab covers For each method, the main pieces of equipment, who makes them (by region) and what they are made of (bill of materials).

The key hardware is the motor itself (stator, rotor, frame, bearings), the variable speed drive, and for magnet motors the permanent magnets.

Industrial AC motors (induction and synchronous)

Low-voltage AC motor36101112131419

Converts electrical power into shaft torque in pumps, fans, compressors and conveyors.

Europe ABB, Innomotics (formerly Siemens) United States Regal Rexnord (fractional to about 5 hp) Japan and Korea Nidec, Toshiba China Wolong Electric Rest of world WEG (Brazil)
Bill of materials
  • Stator core and rotor core: Stacked laminations of silicon electrical steel to limit eddy-current loss; core loss is 13-20% of total losses in DOE's typical 25-100 hp motors Not published
  • Stator windings: Insulated copper wire; resistance loss here is the largest loss component Not published
  • Rotor cage or magnets: Die-cast aluminium or copper bars (induction), shaped steel (reluctance), or NdFeB magnets (permanent magnet) Not published
  • Frame, shaft, bearings, cooling fan: Cast iron or aluminium frame, steel shaft, rolling-element bearings; friction and windage are 7-14% of losses on the same basis Not published

Variable speed drive

Variable speed drive (complete unit)41516171821

Rectifies mains AC to DC, then inverts it to AC of the frequency and voltage the motor needs; 95-97% efficient at full load for 5-200 hp units.

Europe ABB, Siemens, Danfoss Japan and Korea Yaskawa Electric China Inovance
Bill of materials
  • Power stage: Diode or active rectifier, DC-link capacitors, IGBT or silicon carbide inverter bridge Not published
  • Control, cooling and enclosure: Microcontroller board, current sensors, aluminium heatsink, fans, EMC filter Not published
Power semiconductor modules (IGBT, MOSFET)74

Switch DC into a variable-frequency AC waveform thousands of times a second.

Europe Infineon, STMicroelectronics United States onsemi Japan and Korea Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric
Bill of materials
  • Semiconductor chips: Silicon IGBTs and diodes, increasingly silicon carbide MOSFETs Not published
  • Rectifier, DC-link capacitors, heatsink, control board: Diode bridge, film or electrolytic capacitors, aluminium heatsink and fans Not published

Permanent-magnet motors

Sintered rare-earth permanent magnets5

Provide the rotor's magnetic field without rotor current, removing rotor losses.

China Chinese sintered magnet makers (about 94% of world output in 2024)
Bill of materials
  • Magnet alloy: Neodymium-iron-boron, often with dysprosium or terbium for heat resistance; permanent magnets account for about 95% of rare-earth consumption by value Not published

Sources

  1. Premium Efficiency Motor Selection and Application Guide: A Handbook for Industry US Department of Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office, 2014
  2. Adjustable Speed Drive Part-Load Efficiency, Motor Systems Tip Sheet #11 US Department of Energy, 2012
  3. Rare earth elements: executive summary International Energy Agency, 2026
  4. WEG investor presentation: low-voltage industrial motors market share (citing Omdia 2023, LV Motors) WEG S.A., 2024
  5. Infineon investor presentation Q4 FY2025 (citing Omdia Power Semiconductor Market Share Database, October 2025) Infineon Technologies, 2025
  6. WEG investor presentation (FY2025 results) WEG S.A., 2026
  7. LV AC motor sales likely to decline further in 2024 (reporting Interact Analysis) Drives and Controls, 2024
  8. About Nidec Nidec Corporation, 2026
  9. Regal Rexnord Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 Regal Rexnord / US SEC, 2026
  10. General purpose motors Toshiba International Corporation, 2026
  11. ABB Group presentation, May 2026 ABB, 2026
  12. About Danfoss Drives Danfoss, 2026
  13. Corporate data Yaskawa Electric Corporation, 2026
  14. Company profile and investor relations Shenzhen Inovance Technology (via CNINFO), 2026
  15. KPS Capital Partners to acquire Innomotics from Siemens AG (press release, 16 May 2024) KPS Capital Partners, 2024
  16. SINAMICS drives (product family page) Siemens, 2026