By ATN Editorial Team
Summary: BWI Group’s MagneRide semi-active suspension technology will feature in the newly revealed Polestar 5 Performance, while a passive damper with hydraulic rebound stops is supplied to the Dual Motor variant. MagneRide uses magnetorheological fluid for fast, precise damping control and enables distinct drive modes with improved ride quality. Its digital tuning capability supports shorter development times, region-specific calibrations, and OTA updates. The technology’s adaptability and maturity, proven in large-scale adoption by Chinese OEMs, are now being leveraged by European EVs.
Auto Tech View
- Key engineering takeaway: MagneRide’s magnetorheological fluid and broad damping ratio enable greater flexibility in tuning vehicle dynamics and differentiating drive modes.
- Why it matters: As EV mass challenges suspension systems, semi-active technologies like MagneRide deliver both comfort and handling precision, while reducing development time and costs.
BWI Group, the leading global tier-1 supplier of advanced suspension and braking systems, has announced that its MagneRide semi-active suspension technology will feature in the newly revealed Polestar 5.
Alongside MagneRide being equipped on the high-performance version, BWI Group will also supply a sophisticated passive damper with internal hydraulic rebound stops to the Dual motor variant.
Launched in September at the IAA MOBILITY event in Munich, Germany, the Polestar 5 is a flagship 4-door GT with a dual-motor 800V architecture. The Performance variant produces 650kW and 1,015Nm, accelerating from 0–100km/h in just 3.2 seconds.
“Polestar’s decision to equip MagneRide reflects the increasing importance of semi-active suspension in delivering both dynamic performance and refined comfort, particularly for demanding electric platforms,” said Philippe Germain, Chief Engineer at BWI Group. “MagneRide gives Polestar engineers the flexibility to precisely tune the vehicle’s drive dynamics, while ensuring customers experience a clear difference between drive settings.”
MagneRide technology
MagneRide uses a magnetorheological fluid containing iron particles. When a magnetic field is applied, the particles align to provide variable resistance to flow through the damper, creating a wide range of available damping forces.
Compared to solenoid-based semi-active technologies, which rely on complex valve assemblies and multiple components, MagneRide uses a simpler construction with fewer parts. This makes it more robust from an NVH and warranty perspective and easier to package.
MagneRide is digitally controlled, meaning that the system can be tuned using just a laptop and negates the need to design and produce prototype damper valves and pistons. This significantly shortens lead times and also enables region-specific tuning and supports over-the-air updates.
One of the key differentiators is MagneRide’s broad “turn-up” ratio, which is the spread between its maximum and minimum damping force for a given velocity. This enables significant differences in performance between drive modes, such as comfort and sport, and gives vehicle dynamicists greater flexibility in tailoring a car’s character. The technology can also decouple body control from wheel control, improving ride quality without sacrificing handling.
A solution for modern EVs
The adoption of MagneRide by Polestar for its halo electric vehicle highlights the growing role of semi-active suspension systems in meeting the challenges posed by electrification. The increased mass of EVs amplifies body motions and makes achieving high levels of ride comfort and handling precision more challenging.
Semi-active systems addresses this by continuously adjusting damping characteristics in real time. Unlike passive dampers, which offer a fixed response, semi-active dampers adapt to changing road conditions and driving demands, offering engineers and consumers improved body control, sharper handling and enhanced ride comfort.
“Electric vehicles place high demands on suspension systems – they’re heavier, quieter and customers expect more refinement,” added Germain. “MagneRide is ideally suited to this environment. It gives OEMs a proven, scalable technology that manages the mass of modern EVs while still delivering a premium ride and confident handling.”
BWI Group has increased the adaptability of MagneRide to make it applicable to a wider range of vehicle sizes and types. Chinese OEMs have already deployed MagneRide across both premium and mid-range EVs. This large-scale adoption has accelerated the maturity of the technology and reduced costs, creating an opportunity for European OEMs to benefit from proven, mass-market validated solutions.
To find out more about BWI Group’s MagneRide technology, the company is hosting a webinar on October 8th. It will explore the future of semi-active suspension and its role in modern vehicle performance and provide a detailed technical overview of the latest generation of MagneRide technology. The webinar will also offer insights into how the MagneRide system is engineered for scalable integration across multiple vehicle types and architectures and provide a look inside BWI Group’s manufacturing facility. To register for the event, click here: http://bit.ly/4mf7pIL.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is BWI Group MagneRide semi-active suspension?
MagneRide is a semi-active suspension system developed by BWI Group. It uses magnetorheological fluid — iron particles suspended in a carrier fluid — inside the damper. Applying a magnetic field aligns the iron particles to vary the fluid’s flow resistance almost instantaneously, giving the damper a broad range of controllable damping forces with no mechanical valves.
Which Polestar 5 variants use MagneRide?
The Polestar 5 Performance uses BWI Group’s MagneRide semi-active damper. The Dual Motor variant uses a passive BWI damper with internal hydraulic rebound stops. The Performance delivers 650 kW and 1,015 Nm from its dual-motor 800 V architecture, accelerating 0–100 km/h in 3.2 seconds.
How does MagneRide compare to solenoid-based semi-active dampers?
Solenoid-based semi-active dampers use complex valve assemblies and multiple moving parts to control flow. MagneRide controls damping by modulating a magnetic field around the magnetorheological fluid, requiring fewer components. BWI Group states this simpler construction improves NVH behaviour, reduces warranty exposure and simplifies packaging.
Why does semi-active suspension matter for EVs specifically?
Electric vehicles are significantly heavier than equivalent combustion cars because of the battery pack, amplifying body motions over road inputs and making the comfort-versus-handling trade-off harder to resolve. Semi-active dampers continuously adjust damping in real time, letting engineers tune body control and wheel control independently. Digital control also supports region-specific tuning and over-the-air updates without hardware changes.
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