A Bengaluru startup called Vimag Labs just secured its fifth Indian patent for an electric motor that runs without any rare-earth magnets, using software and power electronics to generate its magnetic field instead.
It’s a small, $5-million company taking a swing at a problem that has stumped Tesla, GM, and every major automaker for years: how to build a competitive EV motor that doesn’t depend on China.
What Vimag actually patented
Almost every EV on the road uses a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM), which relies on fixed rare-earth magnets embedded in the rotor to produce torque. Vimag’s Virtual Magnet Synchronous Motor (VMSM) does away with those magnets entirely.
Instead, it generates and controls the rotor’s magnetic field in real time using power electronics and proprietary control algorithms, while keeping a brushless, slip-ring-free design. The patent, titled “A Robust Rotating Transformer Excited Synchronous Motor and Its Control,” covers the core architecture.
