China's EV Push Extends From Batteries to Drive Systems

The headquarters of Inmotion, Geely's subsidiary manufacturing electric drive systems, sits in the Huishan Economic Development Zone in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, in southeastern China. Inside the factory, entered through a heat wave reaching 35 degrees Celsius, humans and robots worked in perfect coordination. As robots precisely inserted parts, workers visually inspected the fastenings, swiftly assembling motors and reducers. Right beside them, a robotic arm cast intense light to photograph assembled finished products with a 44-megapixel camera, instantly determining defects through artificial intelligence (AI) analysis. Nearby, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) crossed the floor, ceaselessly hauling materials.

On the 16th, Inmotion held a new product launch at its Wuxi headquarters and opened its production base to foreign journalists. With 16 production lines and five assembly and testing lines, it produces 1.6 million rotors and 1.65 million stators annually. Its process automation rate reaches 95%.

The electric drive system Inmotion manufactures is a device that combines multiple parts with a motor to form a single module. In terms of an internal combustion engine vehicle, it simultaneously serves the roles of the engine and transmission. Because it is a core device governing the efficiency of energy transfer from battery to wheels, it can significantly extend driving range with the same battery capacity.

The new "16-in-1 Intelligent Electric Drive System," unveiled alongside the production base that day, integrates 12 pieces of core hardware, including a motor, inverter, and reducer, as well as an onboard charger (OBC), along with four types of software. Through ultra-high-integration design, it eliminated more than 180 unnecessary parts and shed over 20 kg compared with existing drivetrains. Its total weight is 75 kg, 4 kg lighter than comparable 12-in-1 products. At the same time, by simplifying routing—shortening high-voltage wiring length by 30% and low-voltage wiring by 15%—it achieved a comprehensive efficiency of 93.8%, the highest among mass-production electric drive systems.

The reason Geely is intensely focused on electric drive systems is that, with the battery market already a two-way race between CATL and BYD, it needs a new point of differentiation. Of course, here too BYD's FinDreams Powertrain holds an overwhelming first place. However, Geely's Inmotion also raised its Chinese market share from 5.4% a year earlier to 8.3% in the January–May period this year, rising to second place. Amid the advances of Chinese companies such as Huawei and Inovance Technology, the presence of established global giants such as Bosch is steadily weakening.

Amid fierce competition, the pace of technological advancement is also accelerating. The market penetration rate of the 800V architecture, which has superior efficiency and charging performance compared with the existing 400V, has risen to 20% and is expected to exceed 50% by 2028. In particular, the "Galaxy TT," an affordable SUV sedan that Geely plans to equip with a next-generation electric drive system, takes only 3.8 seconds to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h (0-to-100). This matches the level of Porsche's high-performance electric SUV, the "Macan GTS Electric," which costs over 100 million won. Considering the Galaxy TT's launch price is expected to be around 100,000 yuan (about 22 million won), it is assessed to offer overwhelming value for money.

Chinese companies are using electric drive systems for exports amid sluggish domestic demand. While AI autonomous driving systems face many constraints in overseas expansion due to regulatory and security issues, electric drive systems can improve both a vehicle's price and product competitiveness without such problems. In fact, China's electric drive system exports reached 4.26 billion yuan, a 64.7% increase from the previous year. Inmotion also supplies electric drive systems not only to brands within the Geely group but to European automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover. It has currently signed order contracts worth about 30 billion yuan with major European automakers in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. A company official emphasized, "This year's export growth rate is expected to exceed 100%."