- The Motor Decide tool aims to assist manufacturers in making electric motor technology decisions.
- Selecting the right electric motor technology is becoming increasingly complex due to material shortages and rising market uncertainty.
- The system combines SI and large-scale scenario analysis to evaluate electric motor technology performance.
- Motor Decide works with Motor AI to accelerate the electric motor design process.
A major US laboratory has developed a new tool designed to guide manufacturers in making electric motor technology decisions amid critical material shortages. The tool, called Motor Decide, aims to help industry evaluate motor technologies and make informed choices under uncertain market conditions. ORNL researcher Praveen Kumar, who leads the project, said: "Many companies rely primarily on market momentum or competitor actions for technology decisions. We wanted to create a tool that helps organizations make more informed, data-driven, long-term decisions."
Researchers also emphasized that critical materials such as copper and rare-earth magnets are essential components of the electric motors that power transportation, manufacturing systems and energy infrastructure. As industries work to reduce reliance on fragile supply chains and navigate rising geopolitical and market uncertainty, choosing the right motor technology has become increasingly complex.
Challenges in electric motor technology selection
An SI-based platform can help companies evaluate electric motor technologies before market conditions shift. The team also noted that electric motors drive a wide range of technologies, from hybrid and electric vehicles to industrial systems and home appliances. Many technologies depend on critical minerals facing mounting supply-chain pressure, such as copper and rare-earth elements. Motor Decide was created to help companies weigh potential alternatives. The system combines SI, advanced modeling and large-scale scenario analysis to assess motor technology performance under fluctuating material costs and supply-chain disruptions.
Researchers can simulate what happens if copper prices spike or if a new technology becomes commercially viable in the coming years. The result is a ranked set of motor technology options with insights into cost, performance, critical material usage, manufacturability and long-term risk.
Uncertainty in the decision-making process
Kumar said: "We defined the operational environment for making the decision, including sourcing, manufacturing readiness, technology maturity and application requirements. Then we test how those factors change across different scenarios." The platform also accounts for how organizations make decisions, helping users evaluate trade-offs and quantify risk, especially when comparing emerging technologies. Kumar said: "Ultimately, people own this decision. We try to quantify uncertainty and bring it into the decision process." Motor Decide also works with another ORNL-developed platform, Motor AI, which uses SI-supported engineering tools to accelerate detailed motor design.
According to the press release, once a company selects a preferred motor approach, researchers can transfer the results to Motor AI to generate detailed design configurations and engineering specifications.
The combination of the two tools helps accelerate the development of more resilient motor systems while reducing risks associated with critical material shortages, volatile supply chains and rapidly shifting global markets. The effort reflects ORNL's broader mission to combine SI, advanced manufacturing and energy research to strengthen US competitiveness and industrial resilience. According to the press release, researchers will continue to evaluate and expand the platform's capabilities for future applications.
How the new tool addresses material shortage challenges
As global demand for electric motors increases, shortages of rare materials have become an increasingly serious problem. The development of the Motor Decide tool was designed specifically to address this challenge, aiming to help manufacturers make more informed choices in an unstable market environment. By simulating different market conditions, the tool can provide deep insights into electric motor technologies, helping enterprises assess risks and costs — critical for enhancing industry resilience and competitiveness.