Ten innovative research programmes that will lead to the development of ultra efficient electrical systems for electric and hybrid vehicles are to receive over £10m support from the UK Government-backed Technology Strategy Board.
In the first competition run under the Integrated Delivery Programme, a £200m investment initiative aimed to support the introduction of low-carbon vehicles onto UK roads, over 30 UK companies and 7 universities will take part in the development projects, which have a total value, including contributions from the companies, of £20 million.
Explaining the background to the decision to invest in this development projects, John Laughlin, the Technology Strategy Board’s Low Carbon Vehicles programme manager, said: “Increasing the market acceptance of low carbon vehicles will contribute to achieving UK and EU climate change targets, whilst creating significant market opportunities for UK-based companies”.
In recent times, this research initiative represents the second major investment in electric vehicle technology by the Technology Strategy Board. Last June, the organisation announced that it is to invest £25m to enable over 340 low-carbon vehicles to be road-tested across the UK over the next 18 months.
Among the others, the following are examples of successful projects:
– HyBoost (Hybridised Boosted Optimised System with Turbocompound Project) , a £3 million project led by Ricardo Ltd, which aims to deliver a very cost-effective, ultra-efficient gasoline hybrid in a C-segment passenger car offering the performance of a 2.0 litre vehicle but with a 30-40% reduction in CO2 emissions, to below 100g/km.
– Advanced High Energy Density Pouch Cell Battery For Electric Vehicle Applications And Next Generation Battery Management System, a £1.4m project led by Axeon Technologies Ltd and aimed to develop an innovative high-energy density battery system for an emission-free electric small city car.
In the meantime, the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is launching the new Joined-Cities Plan designed to create an environment where motorists using plug-in vehicles can easily locate and use charging points from different providers across the UK.
FinSMEs
10/09/2009