Abstract: | This paper presents an overview of the recent technical trends in permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), especially the rare earth (RE)‐less PMSMs that have been developed in Japan. The RE‐less PMSMs, along with PMSMs with reduced RE permanent magnets (PMs), PM‐assisted synchronous reluctance motors (PMASynRM) with ferrite PMs, spoke‐type interior PMSMs (IPMSMs) with ferrite PMs, and axial‐gap PMSMs with ferrite PMs, are reviewed. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |