Recognizing that the demand for electric and hybrid propulsion systems is growing rapidly and goes beyond mainstream passenger and commercial vehicles, BorgWarner has acquired two Oregon-based businesses.

BorgWarner has formed Cascadia Motion LLC to acquire assets and merge the operations of the two companies – Rinehart Motion Systems LLC and AM Racing Inc. BorgWarner says the new LLC, Cascadia Motion, will retain an entrepreneurial culture and will explore the wide variety of electric and hybrid propulsion solutions for niche and emerging applications.

“Rinehart Motion Systems and AM Racing are two established companies in the specialty electric and hybrid propulsion sector,” said Hakan Yilmaz, chief technology officer at BorgWarner. “Bringing them together as Cascadia Motion will allow us to offer design, development and production of full electric and hybrid propulsion systems for niche and low-volume manufacturing applications.”

According to BorgWarner, Cascadia Motion will leverage the proficiencies of both companies into a start-up atmosphere designed to incubate new technologies. Rinehart Motion Systems brings expertise in propulsion inverters and controls for electric and hybrid electric vehicles in professional motorsports, motorcycles, specialty road cars, bus and heavy-duty sectors. AM Racing designs and manufactures single- and dual-core electric motors and gear sets used in all these same market segments.

Cascadia Motion LLC will expand the company’s ability to support a wide variety of customers with small-scale projects, specialty products and low volume manufacturing needs. In addition, BorgWarner’s global production facilities can be utilized as Cascadia Motion customers grow to require high-volume production.