Technology Strategy Board announces £56m public-private investment boost to low carbon automotive innovation
Wed 25 July 2012
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The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) has announced that £27m of public funding from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and the TSB will be supplemented by £29m of private sector funding and invested in 17 major R&D projects to support low carbon vehicle development.
The projects will be led by major vehicle manufacturers including Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover and Nissan but a large number of small and medium-sized companies will be closely involved in the development work. The projects aim to boost UK capability by encouraging a reduction of costs in the supply base and a faster adoption of new technologies on UK roads, with a focus on pulling technology through the various stages of the innovation chain.
Business Minister, Mark Prisk stated: "By working with industry to invest in innovative research and development we are putting the UK at the cutting edge of low carbon vehicle technology - delivering long term benefits for the economy and the environment".
Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: “We were extremely impressed by the number and quality of the ideas presented to us. These include proposals for development and validation activity that follow-on from previous early-stage projects funded by the Technology Strategy Board and it is great to see that these ideas will be brought closer to market through this new investment.”
The projects include:
- The development of a complete EV drive system that incorporates motor, controller and gearbox, cooling and connectors within a single cast plug and play package. The outputs will be low cost, with a range of power outputs, and suitable for integration across multiple OEM vehicle platforms (led by Ashwoods Automotive Ltd).
- ‘Car for Young Drivers’ will deliver novel, low carbon transport solutions to alleviate the issues associated with getting young drivers safely integrated into the vehicle owning and driving population. The project will produce a quadricycle vehicle for 2 people that features novel hybrid driveline technology, lightweight impact-resistant body and features designed specifically to appeal to young drivers (led by mi Technology Group Ltd).
- The development of a production-ready flywheel hybrid midibus by 2014, targeting a 15% reduction in fuel consumption. The product could lead to a step change in fuel consumption and emissions of the Wrightbus midibus fleet and, through future retro-fit projects, for existing vehicles (led by Wrightbus Ltd).
- The development of ground-breaking woven 3D reinforcement systems for automotive components. CO2 emissions can be directly addressed by using lightweight, low inertia materials, such as aluminium matrix composites (AMCs), which can combine the strength and stiffness of steels with the weight of aluminium. This work builds on a previous Technology Strategy Board-funded project, which proved the feasibility of using AMC inserts (led by Jaguar Cars Ltd).
The companies leading the projects are: Artemis Intelligent Power Ltd, Ashwoods Automotive Ltd, Delta Motorsport Ltd, Ford Motor Company Ltd, GKN Structures, Jaguar Cars Ltd (4 projects), Land Rover, mi Technology Group Ltd, Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd, Nissan Technical Centre Europe, Prodrive Automotive Technology (Europe) Ltd, Ricardo UK Ltd, Turbo Power Systems and Wrightbus Ltd.
The competition and funding is managed by the Technology Strategy Board through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform (LCVIP), which promotes low carbon vehicle research, design, development and demonstration in the UK. The Platform has leveraged £300 million of innovation investment for low carbon vehicle research and development since it was established in 2007.
For more information, see the TSB press release and associated reports.
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