Inside an Electric Motor Plant

CEO William Rankin and employees of UQM Technologies give Susan McGinnis a tour of their assembly plant in Longmont, CO.

Rankin shows Susan the assembly line where the motors are made. He points out a rotor, the spinning part inside the motor, which is mounted in a water-cooled housing. Parts for the motors are sourced worldwide and after the motors are assembled, they are shipped to customers.

Total employment of the company is currently 78, most of whom are engineers. Rankin says all of the company's positions are considered "green jobs." The line is capable of producing a motor every six minutes, 80 per day, 20,000 per year.

Susan interviews a worker who is assembling a component and sealing it so it will be watertight.

Another worker shows Susan a shaft and rotor assembly. He is applying a fiberglass band with an epoxy resin that keeps the magnets in the rotor from coming loose. Afterward, the assembly will be baked to create a strong bond. It's one of the early parts of the assembly process. The employee is an engineer who develops the company's assembly processes and helps design the equipment that operators will eventually use to make the motors in mass assembly. He says he came to UQM from the aerospace and defense industry. He believes the "green industry" of electric motor manufacturing has a better future for him.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• motor
• stimulus
• Susan
• McGinnis
• technology
• tour
• UQM
• Technologies
• vehicle

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