UK funds three zero-carbon automotive projects
Three UK-based zero-carbon automotive projects have secured Government funding via the Advanced Propulsion Centre. The combined award of £25.4m was provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and delivered by Innovate UK.
The total value of the funding will be at least £50m given industry contributions for the three projects. The first project will deal with hydrogen fuel cells in buses and large vehicles and features partners Alexander Dennis and Changan UK R&D Centre, who will establish a UK fuel-cell production to deliver zero-emission drivetrain solutions for large passenger cars, buses, and heavy-duty transport vehicles. The idea is to design a modular fuel cell system that would lower the cost of FCEV development across the board. The initiative is named Project Esther.
The next project is designed to address electric bus architecture and more intelligent energy use: A consortium led by Equipmake aims to produce more integrate drivetrains to help bus ranges: “Drivetrains that are fully integrated with heating, cooling and ventilation systems will reduce energy consumption by over 30 per cent.”
Finally, the third project is in cooperation between Jaguar, Land Rover and the University of Warwick and Newcastle University, industrial partners Lyra Electronics, Fuchs Lubricants, C.Brandauer & Co. Limited, Motor Design Limited, Tata Steel and Inetic Limited. The consortium aims to create an electric drive unit with leading efficiency, high power and torque density, which will subsequently be manufactured in the UK.
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