Yamaha Introduces an Electric Motor with 496 Horsepower

Yamaha 800-volt electric motor is designed for high performance applications such as supercars.

Last year, Yamaha expanded the company’s business to include small electric motors ranging from 47 to 268 horsepower. The plan is for the smaller motors to be used in personal mobility vehicles and motorcycles while the more powerful units will be used in small, all-electric passenger cars. In short, the first electric motors developed by Yamaha are intended for electric vehicles for the masses, but with their latest products, the company is looking to get involved with the supercar world.

Yamaha Electric Supercar Motor

According to Autoblog, Yamaha has just introduced a new 800-volt electric motor that is capable of producing 496 horsepower. More importantly, this new electric motor is designed to be used in multiples in a single vehicle, so for example, imagine an all-wheel-drive supercar with a pair of these at each axle. That car would pack right around 1,984 horsepower and an incredible amount of torque. Even if the car weighs 3,000 pounds, a power-to-weight ratio of 1.5 pounds per horsepower.

Thanks to the motor’s design, which integrates both the inventor and the gearing into one compact case, it is possible to fit four of these under the low-slung body of a modern supercar. If the company building the car opted for rear-drive, a pair of these Yamaha electric motors would deliver just shy of a thousand horsepower with an even lower curb weight.

What Cars Can Use This Motor?

You might be wondering what Yamaha plans to do with this impressive electric supercar engine, considering the fact that the company doesn’t build or sell cars. Yamaha is best-known in the United States for their motorcycles and various off-road vehicles. However, a division of the Japanese company has provided powerplants for many other companies in the past.

Over the years, Yamaha provided engines for vehicles like the Toyota 2000GT and MR2, the Ford Taurus SHO, the Volvo S80 and XC90, the Lotus Elise and the Lexus LFA. In the same way that Yamaha built the engines for those well-known models, Yamaha’s electric motor group has been providing the smaller motors for companies that build personal mobility vehicles and small electric cars. This new electric supercar motor would be used by a company that has developed the chassis and body of a supercar, but which does not have its own electric motor system.

This Yamaha electric motor will allow automakers to focus their internal resources on the rest of the vehicle, essentially building a car around one, two or four of these powerful, compact 800-volt units. This new motor package could open up the world of all-electric supercars to companies with no electric propulsion program, possibly leading to all-new entries in the segment.