In 2017, the global cumulative sales of new energy passenger vehicles exceeded 1.22 million, a year-on-year increase of 58%. Among them, my country's new energy passenger vehicle sales exceeded 578,000, accounting for 47.37%. As the country further promotes energy conservation, emission reduction and environmental protection, the popularization of new energy vehicles has become an irreversible market trend.

With the large-scale promotion of new energy vehicles, the bearing industry faces the test of performance improvement

Because of this, more and more multinational auto companies have formulated corresponding development strategies in the Chinese market. Not long ago, Ford Motor Company announced that it plans to move 70% of its electric vehicle production lines to China by 2025. Tesla, which will build a factory in China, also has high hopes for the Chinese market. The company has proposed that in a few years, Tesla's sales in China will account for a larger share of its global sales.

With the rapid increase in sales of new energy vehicles, the market demand for drive motors has risen rapidly. It is predicted that the global drive motor market will reach 4.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.

新能源汽车驱动电机需要专用轴承。与传统汽车相比，新能源汽车要求电机具有很高的极限转速，同时适应-40℃低温要求和150℃以上高温要求，并且要求轴承具有维护功能，适应频繁启停造成的轴向冲击。

新能源汽车专用轴承市场正在蓬勃发展，对我国轴承行业发起严峻挑战。北京汽车集团有限公司研究员级高级工程师虞至正和中国汽车工业咨询委员会秘书长陈光祖一致认为，我国轴承行业应当迎接这个挑战，积极开发生产新能源汽车专用轴承，掌握市场竞争的主动权。

他们优化了轴承内部结构，利用仿真、润滑技术，解决了高速高温下轴承发热和润滑难题，形成新能源汽车驱动电机轴承设计理论及方法，确保专用轴承具有精度高、离心力小、低摩擦等特点，能够满足新能源汽车低启动力矩、高速和急变速、耐用性和高可靠性等综合性能要求。此外，该技术中心还研制出新能源汽车轴承专用高速高温性能、启动力矩性能、耐用性能和油脂性能等试验台，攻克试验台加载程序、高转速、温升等难题，制定了新能源汽车轴承的高速、高低温、耐久性、油脂性能等试验规范，形成了新能源汽车轴承系列试验标准。

事实上，新能源汽车高速驱动电机对轴承生产精度要求也很高。瑞典斯凯孚是世界轴承科技界与制造行业的导向标。虞至正介绍道：“新能源汽车驱动电机转速快，对轴承精度和静音性能要求很高。国内新能源汽车驱动电机轴承精密度、可靠性和耐用性不如瑞典斯凯孚的产品。”陈光祖认为，国内轴承行业对轴承特别是新能源汽车专用轴承性能研究不够；与发达国家相比，国内高端轴承材质有很大差距。