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BMW-backed DeepDrive wins first production contract, targets 2028 launch with major automaker Automotive News Europe
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE
2026 / 10 / 08
DeepDrive, an electric motor startup backed by BMW Group, has won its first production contract with a leading global automaker, with manufacturing scheduled to begin in 2028. The contract will result in a production volume of 100,000 to 1 million units over the lifetime of the deal, CEO Felix Poernbacher told Automotive News Europe.
He declined to identify the customer or which of DeepDrive’s products would be used. The Munich-based supplier makes a patented dual-rotor electric motor, in-wheel motors, as well as a dual-rotor, radial-flux generator aimed at hybrid powertrains.
The contract could expand to additional models and platforms, he said.
The automaker selected DeepDrive technology because of its weight, cost and compactness, Poernbacher said. Independent tests have shown that DeepDrive’s dual-rotor motor extends range by up to 20 percent compared with rival technologies and reaches over 95 percent peak efficiency during operation.
Last December, DeepDrive added Peter Hochholdinger to its team of senior advisers. The veteran of production operations at Audi, Tesla and Lucid Motors was brought in to help industrialize the supplier’s dual-rotor electric-motor technology.
Doug Buldoc & Lois Jones