Line will produce 120,000 EV drivetrains a year

Published: 21 February, 2022

The Italian automation supplier Comau has developed and commissioned an automated end-to-end assembly line to produce electric motors, gearboxes and inverters for the Chinese car-maker Geely. The flexible line will assemble permanent magnet motor rotors, gearboxes and electronic drives, as well as performing automated quality control and testing of up to of 120,000 drivetrains a year.

The automated line, at Geely’s Veremt plant in Ningbo, uses multiple robots to install the motor rotors. It also includes 3D vision positioning and guidance, automated high-speed installation of the motor magnets, automated injection of rotor cores, and the automated dual-position dynamic balance correction and magnetisation. It includes stations for:
• assembling the motor stator casings and thermal sleeves;
• dynamic and static testing of the motors;
• feeding and pressing bearings;
• feeding and tightening bolts; and
• automatically selecting and measuring gaskets.

The installation has raised the Veremt plant’s level of automation from around 40% to 80%, while delivering a full-scale production capacity.

Comau allocated 20 engineers to the design phase of the project, which they completed in four months. The line was delivered in just over a year, despite the challenges of Covid-19 and product optimisation changes. Mass production started in late 2021.

Part of the automated drivetrain assembly line at Geely’s Veremt plant

Comau is a member of the Stellantis group which incorporates Fiat, the PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler.

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