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Exro announces agreement with Linamar for electric drive solution to advance EV adoption

CALGARY — Exro Technologies Inc., a clean technology company that has developed a new class of power electronics for electric motors and batteries, announced a strategic development agreement with Linamar Corporation, an automobile parts manufacturer, to develop an advanced electric drive solution for electric vehicles.

Linamar is a tier one manufacturer of advanced mobility solutions for the automotive industry that stands at the intersection of leading-edge technology and manufacturing expertise. Linamar has over 26,000 employees in 61 manufacturing locations, 12 R&D centres and 25 sales offices in 17 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia which generated sales of $7.4 billion in 2019. Customers include automotive manufacturers, commercial vehicle manufacturers and multinational delivery services companies.

Linamar and Exro have agreed to develop an advanced eAxle utilizing Coil Driver technology to improve cost and performance of Linamar’s eAxle product line. An eAxle is an integrated electric drive solution for battery electric vehicles (BEV) or fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). The integrated solution hopes to provide better manufacturing cost and more efficient volume usage.

With growing demand for electric vehicles around the world to reduce carbon emissions, there is still a critical gap in electric vehicle affordability and performance to achieve mass adoption. An advanced eAxle solution may help bridge the gap to cost-effective and high-performance battery electric vehicles.

Initial demonstration of this technology will utilize Linamar’s Medium Duty eAxle product. In the initial phase of development, Exro will supply Coil Driver development samples and optimized electric motors for integration in eAxle program testing. Linamar will supply and integrate the remaining critical elements of the eAxle system, including the gear box assembly, for lab and on-road testing. Completed testing and validation of prototypes is planned for the second quarter of 2022.

“Exro came to us with a unique solution for our electric drive program that we believe is a step in the right direction for accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles,” commented Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz. “This integrated design can pave the way for cost-effective and high performing electric propulsion systems that are essential to scale the transition to electric mobility.”

Sue Ozdemir, Exro Chief Executive Officer said, “We are very excited for this development with Linamar, who has been a staple in auto industry manufacturing for decades. This strategic development agreement marks one of our biggest milestones to date and represents a huge opportunity for us to become an integral part of the EV supply chain for major automotive companies.”