Saietta Group Plc (AIM: SED), a British electric drivetrain (eDrive) specialist, has today announced the appointment of Chinmaya Joshi to the newly-created role of Director of Power Electronics and Control Systems.
The appointment represents a strengthening of Saietta’s core competence in developing power electronics, control systems and software. This in-house expertise, together with its modular range of efficient, compact and powerful axial flux and radial flux motors, enables Saietta to offer the optimal eDrive design tailored specifically to a vehicle manufacturer’s precise requirements.
Bringing deep knowledge and experience in powertrain electrification across a range of sectors within the global automotive industry, Chinmaya will be responsible for the development of electric motor controllers and vehicle control units and will play a pivotal role in driving forward Saietta’s strategy of engineering increasingly sophisticated but cost-effective, flexible, eDrive systems for markets worldwide.
Lightweight electric vehicles (LEVs) in particular have a key role to play in reducing air pollution and fossil fuel consumption in cities by replacing the combustion-engine scooters, motorbikes and rickshaws which currently dominate the segment. This will only be successful if the eDrives are engineered specifically for those applications, and locally manufactured by world-class suppliers, to deliver the performance, efficiency and robustness required, at a price point that enables OEMs to phase-out polluting petrol and diesel units. This insight defines Saietta’s guiding principles when engineering eDrive solutions for this sector which is a fundamental part of Saietta’s growth strategy.
Tony Gott, Executive Chairman, Saietta Group Plc, said: “Saietta provides full electric drivetrain solutions to vehicle manufacturers worldwide. Having power electronics and control systems engineering at our global technical centre in Silverstone, UK, is fundamental to our ability to develop every element of the system in-house. The Saietta Board is committed to significantly expand this core competence, and the appointment of Chinmaya Joshi to the leadership team is a clear signal of our strategic intent and will accelerate the development of our next-generation technologies.”
Chinmaya Joshi, Director of Power Electronics and Control Systems, Saietta Group Plc, said: “I am delighted to join Saietta at a time when the company is delivering on its strategy of electrifying the light electric vehicle segment in markets worldwide. I’ve been particularly impressed by Saietta’s meticulous, strategy-led execution and collaborative approach to bringing high torque density axial flux electric motor technology to the highly cost-competitive Asian market. I am excited about expanding Saietta’s power electronics and controls capability, and rapidly expanding the electric drivetrain product portfolio.”
Chinmaya brings experience of developing high and low voltage electrified powertrains systems, and from applications including mild hybrid, full hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles from passenger cars to electric buses.
He joins from YASA Mercedes Benz, where he was Head of Controller Engineering and High-Voltage Power Electronics, and was responsible for leading the development of the firm’s in-house inverters, achieving significant efficiency improvements. Prior to this, he was Jaguar Land Rover’s Senior Manager for High-Voltage Power Electronics, and headed the complete design and delivery of hardware and software for an integrated on-board charger, DC-DC converter and battery management system for 400V and 800V architectures. Chinmaya started his career at Tata Sons Limited and then Electra EV, both in Mumbai, India.
Chinmaya has completed his Masters of Science degree from Cornell University in USA, Bachelors of Technology from College of Engineering, Pune in India and is currently pursuing his PhD in Power Electronics from University of Nottingham in UK.
