Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1525523
| 4 advanced materials; supporting components can also be designed to drive the motor more efficiently. For example, variable-speed drives (VSD) and variable- frequency drives (VFD) match the motor's rotation to the load's requirements, ensuring that the system is always performing at optimal efficiency. VSDs and VFDs are not new technologies, but they are becoming more widely deployed to save energy and offer additional benefits, such as soft start, longer operational lifetimes, and performance analytics. Advanced materials that have been brought to the market relatively recently, such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), can deliver power to the motor more efficiently. Those power devices are often supported by complex digital computing technologies to control the power flow to the motor accurately. Using these technologies can make electric motors considerably more energy efficient, reducing running costs while improving the performance of the systems. Additionally, governments and trade organizations around the world use legislation to promote the use of more efficient drives. The United States began regulating electric motors in 1992 as part of its Energy Policy Act. Five years later, the country introduced minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPS) for motors manufactured or sold in the US market for industrial, commercial, and residential applications. On a global level, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) developed the IEC 60034-30:2008 standard, which harmonized efficiency classifications for motors manufactured and sold worldwide. The regulation was updated in 2014, and the IEC 60034-2-1:2014 standard was introduced to specify how to determine motor efficiencies and losses using established testing methodology. The classifications in the standard range from IE1 up to IE5, with IE1 being the least efficient and IE5 the most efficient. Governing bodies have used these IE classifications to mandate a minimum level of efficiency for motors. For example, (EU) 2019/1781, the EU regulation on electric motors and variable speed drives, came into force on July 1, 2021. It expanded on previous legislation and provided classifications for VSDs and minimum performance levels for the first time. Motors that are not exempt from the regulation will have to meet IE2, IE3, or IE4 efficiency levels, depending