On June 24, the workshop of Zhuzhou Shangchi Electric Co., Ltd. inside Zhuzhou Rail Intelligent Valley Park was in full swing. Workers were rushing to manufacture 600‑unit motors for Geely, while multiple large‑volume orders were being produced in parallel.

　　In recent years, price wars have intensified in the new‑energy motor industry. Against this backdrop, Shangchi Electric has delivered an outstanding counter‑cyclical performance: its revenue nearly doubled in 2025, and its target for this year stands at RMB 470 million. Its customer portfolio includes more than 20 leading enterprises in construction machinery and complete‑vehicle manufacturing, such as Geely, Shaanxi Automobile, Sany, Liugong and XCMG.

　　While the industry is generally trapped in low‑price competition and the dilemma of trading profit for sales volume, how has the company won favor from top manufacturers and achieved growth amid headwinds?

　　Cross‑border Development with High‑speed Rail Gene

　　Shangchi Electric has a distinctive origin: it was spun off from the New‑energy Drive Division of CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Co., Ltd. at the end of 2020. Armed with proprietary technologies, it has rapidly grown into a hidden champion in China’s segmented market of permanent‑magnet motors for new‑energy vehicles.

　　The first tough challenge the company tackled was hairpin motors, one of the core driving forces behind transformation in the new‑energy vehicle sector.

　　Conventional motors adopt round copper wires with low slot‑fill factor and bulky dimensions. Hairpin motors feature rectangular cross‑section conductors neatly arranged like stacked bricks. For stators of identical size, more copper conductors can be accommodated, delivering higher power, smaller footprint and superior heat dissipation.

　　Drawing on technical heritage from high‑speed rail motors, is its foray into new‑energy vehicles not a case of advanced‑technology dimensionality reduction application?

　　“Actually, domestic technical reserves for hairpin motors are limited, and we also learned by trial and error,” said Cui Chunbao, Deputy General Manager of Shangchi Electric.

　　The core performance of hairpin motors lies in the layered design of copper conductors inside stator slots. The mainstream mass‑production level across the industry stays at 8 layers. Each additional layer reduces motor losses and improves efficiency, yet brings exponential increases in technical difficulty for forming, welding and insulation processes.

　　“Stepping into the market, we must accomplish something remarkable!” said Xie Xianyi, General Manager of the company.

　　First‑hand experimental capabilities were built from scratch. Experimental technologies for high‑speed rail motors could be referenced rather than directly copied; nearly all equipment and parameters were developed in‑house. Cui Chunbao recalled that severe vibration during high‑speed motor operation caused measurement drift in testing instruments. Engineers had to repeatedly assemble, disassemble and calibrate equipment, sometimes debugging until the early hours for three to four consecutive days.

　　The team independently developed electromagnetic design software to identify optimal winding layouts out of thousands of stator‑slot wiring schemes. It innovatively adopted domestically advanced Mini‑pin technology to boost power density and cut costs by shortening winding end‑turn height.

　　“Design expertise from high‑speed rail motors regarding structural strength, bearing‑current suppression and EMC electromagnetic compatibility has also been incorporated into our products,” introduced Yue Bolun, R&D Director of Shangchi Electric. Such technologies effectively prevent bearing electrical corrosion and mitigate motor interference with other on‑board vehicle equipment.

　　Eventually, China’s first mass‑produced high‑efficiency 12‑layer Mini‑pin hairpin motor came into reality. Its reliability and full‑service‑life performance far exceed industry averages. Early this year, the company’s drive motor for new‑energy commercial heavy‑duty trucks was awarded the title of Hunan Provincial Manufacturing Single‑Champion Product.

　　Technical advantages have been converted into market value. Geely’s methanol heavy‑duty trucks equipped with Shangchi’s 12‑layer hairpin motors cut operating costs by roughly RMB 1 per kilometer compared with diesel vehicles. For a truck traveling 100,000 kilometers annually, cost savings can exceed RMB 80,000, generating substantial returns for large‑scale long‑term operation.

　　Seizing New‑energy Opportunities Across Multiple Tracks

　　Intensified homogenized competition prevails in the new‑energy motor industry, with many enterprises trapped in securing orders via low pricing amid shrinking profit margins. Shangchi Electric faces tests not only in technical depth, but also in market agility and risk‑resilience.

　　High‑speed rail traction motors demand extreme reliability with R&D cycles of three to five years. The automotive industry operates at a far faster pace: drive‑motor suppliers in downstream supply chains face iteration cycles as short as three months, alongside stringent cost‑control requirements.

　　“We did struggle with adaptation at the beginning,” Cui Chunbao recalled. Initially only 30 motors could be finished per day, with workers manually tightening screws one by one from dawn till dusk.

　　The breakthrough came from process upgrading for higher efficiency and platform‑based development for faster response.

　　On the production side, mold parameters were continuously fine‑tuned, process precision controlled and welding procedures optimized. R&D staff participated throughout prototype manufacturing, implementing timely adjustments to standardize complex assembly workflows.

　　On the R&D side, motor electromagnetic schemes, structural components and control interfaces are divided into standardized modules. Products tailored to different vehicle power and dimensional requirements can be rapidly configured in a building‑block fashion.

　　Capabilities for rapid customized delivery have opened doors to diverse market segments. In recent years, the company has secured orders for new‑energy commercial vehicles, construction machinery, special‑purpose vehicles and mining explosion‑proof equipment, with an annual output of 30,000 motors. “Last year our products were exported to Thailand; Shangchi hairpin motors are installed on sightseeing trains operating in downtown Bangkok,” Cui Chunbao stated.

　　At present, the company has established nine product platforms ranging from TZ180 to TZ460, offering more than 300 types of drive motors covering nearly all new‑energy passenger‑vehicle and construction‑machinery models available on the market.

　　Why would an enterprise with merely over 100 employees cover such a wide product portfolio?

　　Xie Xianyi, General Manager of Shangchi Electric, gave a straightforward answer: “A single market track provides limited risk resistance. Enterprises become highly vulnerable once that industry downturns. It is similar to running a supermarket: richer product diversity helps retain more customers.”

　　In his view, agricultural machinery, marine equipment and other sectors represent promising incremental markets. “The trend toward full‑domain electrification is increasingly clear. With our technological strength and flexible manufacturing capabilities, we are confident to maintain solid footing amid industry adjustments.”