The new-generation motor controller weighs less than 5 kg. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

The Yongjiang Laboratory — located in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province — has unveiled a new-generation motor controller that sets a new benchmark for power density and efficiency in the global market.

Weighing less than 5 kilograms, the compact unit delivers a peak output of 340 kilowatts, achieving 70 kW/kg in weight power density, 57.6 kW/L in volumetric density and a peak efficiency of 99 percent.

This eclipses the industry's typical ceiling of around 40 kW/kg, marking a major leap forward in electric propulsion technology.

Experts say the breakthrough could speed up advances in low-altitude aviation, electric mobility and marine transport — while offering lighter, stronger and more efficient core controllers for everything from electric vehicles to industrial equipment.

Dubbed the "electric heart" of powered devices, motor controllers regulate the flow of current and magnetic fields to maximize motor performance — whether in smartphones, home appliances, electric cars, or factory machinery.

The Yongjiang team's leap forward comes from three key innovations — with one being the use of third-generation wide-bandgap semiconductors to boost current transfer efficiency by over 50 percent while reducing heat.

Another innovation is deploying a patented SPVCS-Z liquid cooling system that channels coolant directly to heat sources, shrinking radiator volume to just one-fifth of conventional designs — with the other innovation involving shedding weight, with 70 percent smaller capacitors and magnetic-core-free current sensors that are 80 percent lighter.

On the software side, adaptive algorithms constantly fine-tune magnetic field and current trajectories, selecting the most energy-efficient strategy in real time.

After debuting a prototype in June 2024, the team's second-generation model has nearly tripled power density in just over a year.

"Seventy kW/kg is only the start," said project lead Gu Chunyang, adding that the integration of three proprietary technologies has put the controller at the forefront of the global industry.