Despite the energy saving advantages and EU directives promoting energy saving motors, a recent study by IMS Research (now part of HIS) indicates a significant portion of sales of low voltage motors sold in Europe and the UK are still IE1.

In 2009 the implemented Directive 2005/32/EC which states that in the EU, with the exception of some special applications, motors shall not be less efficient than the IE3 efficiency level as from 1 January 2015.

This was to be achieved in stages with all motors to be:

– IE2 by June 16, 2011,

– IE3 by January 1, 2015 (for motors >=7.5 to 375 kW) and IE2 only in combination with a variable speed drive

– IE3 for all motors by January 1, 2017, (for motors from 0.75 to 375 kW) and IE2 only in combination with a variable speed drive.

According to IMS, Regulatory exemptions that allow motors of lesser efficiency to be produced beyond the required inception dates stated in the legislation have slowed the turnover of both annual sales and the global installed base of motors to IE2 or above. Exemptions pertaining to a motor’s defined purpose and its operating environment, namely temperature, elevation and duty cycle are being exploited to circumvent the original intent of the legislation.

“From an energy efficiency standpoint, this is the most exciting time in the industrial motors market in the last 20 years,” said Mark Meza, principal analyst for IHS. “However, obtaining the lowest cost solution on the front-end rather than considering the overall cost of ownership of the motor is still the market reality, despite regulatory efforts to rebalance this dynamic.”

Lack of enforcement

However, the fact that no enforcement action is being taken when the regulations are not followed results in artificially extending the availability of motors that are no longer supposed to be sold.   “The market reality is that the lowest cost motor is still king despite energy efficiency regulations coming into effect, and the potential savings in lifetime operating costs they were intended to foster.”

“If the history of motor efficiency transitions in the US market is any indication, the LV motor markets in other countries that are implementing similar transitions will have to accept a slow and gradual transformation rate over the course of the next decade,” Meza concluded. “Economic problems aside, this will significantly constrain the LV motors market’s revenue and ASP growth and counteract the energy efficiency regulations already in place.”

 IE1 and IE2 motors can be used with variable speed drives from here