UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre awards funding to three low-carbon projects

2 August 2018

The UK’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) has awarded £35 million (€39.2 million) to three low-carbon automotive powertrain projects as it aims to help the country on the path to cleaner, greener motoring.

The funding could safeguard or create 1,800 jobs, with the technology developed supporting aspirations for the UK to be a world leader in zero emissions technology as part of the Industrial Strategy and recently-published Road to Zero strategy.

With a total value of more than £70 million (€78.5 million), including both government and industry investment, the projects are expected to enhance the UK’s supply chain and competitiveness in the development of ultra-low emission vehicles as well as upskilling UK workers.

The project consortiums are made up of some of the most-recognised names, including hofer powertrain, Aston Martin, Ceres Power, Nissan, Artemis Intelligent Power and Danfross and Robbie Fluid, covering a broad range of industries. The projects have the potential to save over 3m tonnes CO2.

Projects include:

• Artemis Intelligent Power: in Greater London, non-mobile machinery contributes 10% of all NOx emissions and 11% of all PM10 emissions. This project aims to introduce a disruptive technology to the off-highway vehicle sector, which will re-invent hydraulic power for the digital age. It has the potential to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of some off-highway vehicles by more than 50% when fully developed and will help anchor future R&D and manufacturing capability in Scotland.
• Ceres Power: battery electric vehicles are among the core technologies that will enable the significant reduction of emission and pollutants in city centres and urban areas. Ceres will lead a project, with the support of Nissan, to develop a compact, high power density, solid oxide fuel cell specifically designed to extend the range of electric light commercial vehicles. This programme addresses commercial vehicles, one of the most challenging to decarbonise aspects of the transport system, and will demonstrate the scalability of the technology to other automotive segments.
• hofer powertrain along with Aston Martin is developing a new generation of technically-advanced e-motor and inverter modules, which will be manufactured in the UK, for future high-performance vehicles. The project is expected to build the UK’s e-mobility skills base and improve productivity.

Ian Constance, Chief Executive of the APC, said: ′The challenge of lowering emissions is shared by the entire automotive industry, and includes all areas of the sector. This latest round of APC funding highlights the broad range of vehicle types that will benefit from developments in low carbon innovation, with successful applicants developing technologies for commercial and off-highway vehicles, as well as the wider e-mobility industry. We expect that this approach will help to create and safeguard jobs across the UK automotive sector.’