## 1 Introduction  
Urban air quality problems and high CO\({}_{2}\) levels have led to the implementation of decarbonization programs, which most countries are committed to. This will have positive effects on the climate, health, and the environment in the coming decades. Studies revealed that the emissions of passenger cars and light-duty vehicles are responsible for 15.1% of total greenhouse gas and almost 70% of transport emissions in the EU in 2018 [1, 2]. Transport emissions have decreased in the last years due to decreased activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, but without the implementation of additional measures, the reduction expected will result in transport emissions in 2030 being around 10% above 1990 levels [3]. Electric vehicles (EVs) are, for now, expensive, and battery technology and charging infrastructure are far from being fully developed. The internal combustion engine will be phased out of production, being considered incompatible with climate protection. The political class aims to accelerate the transition to e-mobility, with significant amounts being allocated for incentive programs in the purchase of an electric vehicle and the expansion of charging networks. Congestion in big cities as well as poor air quality has led to a growing demand for light electric vehicles, especially in crowded cities due to their advantages, such as: (i) reduced size, which makes them easy to park in urban centers; (ii) low maintenance costs; and (iii) reduced charging times. EVs are powered either from a battery or a fuel cell. Due to low overall efficiency, fuel cell electric vehicles application will be, for now, limited to vehicles with high daily driving usage [4]. Regardless of the energy storage technology, the electric propulsion units are being developed all around the globe considering three main targets: increased efficiency, manufacturing cost reduction, and increased power to weight ratio [5]. Traction motors hold a key role in the development of electric cars. The requirements they must meet (high power and torque density, high efficiency, wide speed range, and high reliability at reasonable cost) narrows the selection range. Recent years have brought to light different solutions used by car manufacturers. Induction machines offer high reliability at lower costs due to their mature manufacturing technologies acquired over the last decades in their use of different applications and electrified powertrains. Famous manufacturers such as Renault (Twizy) and Tesla (Model S) successfully integrated the asynchronous machine, despite the increased rotor copper losses, cooling requirements, and battery autonomy due to high starting current [6; 7]. PM-assisted synchronous reluctance motor (PMa-SynRM) can compensate requirements of not using rare earth permanent magnets (PMs) by designing them with ferrite magnets [8]. Several studies evaluate the performances of PMa-SynRMs in different ranges of power. They also compared them with interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSM) to emphasize the advantages and disadvantages of specific driving cycles [9; 10; 11; 12]. IPMSMs are the traction motor choice for most automotive manufacturers, despite the price insecurity and raw material limited availability. Rotors with embedded permanent magnet design have the advantage of high efficiency, wide speed range, being lightweight, and strong mechanical structure [13]. Various rotor structures are proposed with different arrangements of the PMs and their influence on the machines performance is considered in [14; 15; 16]. Different types of rotors structures for EVs are analyzed and their electromagnetic characteristics (efficiency torque output and flux weakening capability for wide operating range) are compared in [17; 18]. Among these several types of IPMSM rotor configuration, the spoke-type rotor is known for its high torque density and high efficiency due to its flux concentration capability [19; 20].