APC to invest £77 million in e-mobility research
The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) is investing £77 million in seven UK-based automotive collaborative research and development projects. The funding pot is made up of £38.4 million from the government, combined with £38.7 million from the automotive industry.
Much of the focus is on how to effectively decarbonise commercial and working vehicles including vans, buses, HGVs, and zero-emission emergency vehicles. This funding enables a range of solutions to be developed, including hydrogen fuel cells and battery-electric versions.
As previously mentioned, the funding went to support a total of seven projects, ranging from Ford developing a fleet of 8 fuel-cell Transit vans, to Wrightbus developing both battery and fuel-cell technology for multi-axle vehicles. The projects all centre around commercial and utility vehicles, as ULEMco is to develop a hydrogen fuel cell range extender for prototype ambulance, fire engine and road sweepers. Bramble Energy has been tasked with another hydrogen fuel-cell project, developing “hydrogen double-deck bus, using innovative, low-cost fuel cell technology”. The final hydrogen-based project is being run by BorgWarner, who is developing hydrogen double-deck bus, using innovative, low-cost fuel cell technology.
The final two projects are being run by Leyland Trucks and JLR, who are “scaling up the production of electric trucks through innovations in automation and advanced testing”, and developing a high-efficiency and highly integrated 800V inverter, respectively.
In total, the organizers claim, the projects will support over 4,440 jobs across the UK over the next decade, while saving 58.2 million tonnes of CO2 from being emitted. This is also not APC’s first foray into mobility technologies, as a pot of £25 million was announced last year, going to a series of projects as well.
“Investment into these seven collaborative projects continues the work that the UK does very well. Research and development, building the automotive supply chain, pushing the boundaries of clean technology for the road, whilst securing jobs across the country,” said Ian Constance, Chief Executive at the APC. “I am pleased to have both well-known brand names among this £77 million funding round through the APC, as well as innovative SMEs bringing through exciting new developments.”
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