The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) announced this week, at the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle (LCV) event in Milton Kenynes, that it will channel £6m of funding into a new research project aiming to improve the performance of electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).
The research will be directed by Professor Rob Thring, at Loughborough University, and informed by an industrial advisory committee comprising of companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Johnson Matthey and Intelligent Energy.
With Professor Thring’s and the committee’s guidance, ELEVATE (ELEctrochemical Vehicle Advanced Technology) will develop materials for fuel cells and batteries whilst attempting to improve integration between devices, vehicles and power grids.
There will also be a second project, led by Dr Robert Morgan at the University of Brighton, that focuses on developing low-carbon solutions for conventional combustion engine cars.
This second tier of research will investigate how to improve internal combustion engines’ efficiency by 33% and how new fuels’ performance can be used in future engines to bring emissions close to zero.
Together the projects will involve eight Universities in the UK, including the University of Warwick, University of Southampton, University College London and the University of Oxford.
Minister for Universities, Science and Cities, Greg Clark, commented at the LCV event: “Funding these new projects involving eight universities is a clear example of this in practice, while taking us a step closer to producing low carbon vehicles on a mass scale.”
Professor Philip Nelson, EPSRC’s Chief Executive, added: “The UK’s research base and its universities are a fantastic source of new ideas and refinements from which industry can draw to grow and innovate. Low carbon vehicles are, without doubt, an inevitable and very necessary next step for the automotive industries. The leading research that EPSRC supports will help to make the mass use and production of these vehicles a reality more quickly.”
Transport Engineer, EV Fleet World
