The secrets behind F1’s MGU tech

Formula 1 engines underwent a huge change for 2014 with the adoption of a hybrid system containing motor generator units (MGUs) and here PAT SYMONDS explains exactly how a motor generator works

Last month we looked at batteries and acknowledged there are many different types of devices which fit that generic term. This month we take a similar look at one of the other major components of a hybrid system: the motor or, as it’s known on a vehicle, the motor generator unit or MGU.

The motor is the device that converts electrical energy to mechanical energy. It’s a reversable process and so, if driven, a motor can also turn mechanical energy into electrical energy as it acts as a generator, hence the name MGU. Motors consist of many parts but the primary ones are the rotor in the centre, which turns and provides motion, and the stator which surrounds  it and is non-moving.