UK revamps its EV battery, hydrogen task forces
The UK government is revamping its stuttering electric vehicle task force and holding its first meeting for hydrogen power for automotive and aerospace.
The UK government has announced another £73m in combined government and industry investment for automotive R&D projects to support the development of electric vehicle and battery technology as well as new task forces. Half of this will be through government funding for competitions through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC).
This includes four projects led by Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover to develop a modular family of electric machines, inverters and transmissions for future vehicle platforms, Yasa developing a dual inverter for regenerative braking in BEVs, enabling new vehicle designs with EV specific, optimised electronics and safety systems and Empel Systems developing a UK-designed and sourced innovative silicon carbide power module for use in high efficiency automotive inverters and DC-DC converters.
The funding is also supporting a project led by Integrals Power, developing and scaling up high-performance Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery systems ahead of testing for mass commercialisation.
This month the government will hold the first meeting of the Hydrogen Propulsion Manufacturing Taskforce involving leading manufacturers across auto, aero, rail and marine. This taskforce will make recommendations to government and industry to maximise investments in the UK manufacture of hydrogen propulsion systems.
The ‘renewed’ Battery Strategy Taskforce will meet quarterly to identify knowledge gaps requiring further research and consider potential risks to UK battery supply chains.
This comes after the UK’s failing battery strategy was heavily criticised by legislators.
“We’re committed to building the electric vehicle supply chain in the UK. By investing in the capability and expertise in this country we will grow businesses and take decisive action towards creating zero tailpipe emission technology. Our latest R&D funding does just that,” said APC Chief Executive Officer Ian Constance.
£40m is going towards a project developing zero-carbon aircraft engine technology – led by Cambridge-based Marshall ADG Ltd – and around £96 million is being invested in projects led by Airbus.
Funding for these projects will be delivered through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme. The £975 million in aerospace funding over five years from 2025, announced last year, will be allocated to the ATI programme.
“Industry will welcome this announcement as yet another boost for key sectors that will put advanced manufacturing at the heart of the UK’s economic future. These industries will be key to addressing many of the societal challenges we face in a competitive world and highlight what can be achieved with a constructive dialogue between Government and business. Taken together they are another piece in the jigsaw of a modern industrial strategy to make the UK a world leader in key sectors of the future,” said Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive of industry group Make UK.
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In the coming weeks, UK Minister for Industry Nusrat Ghani and Brian Holliday of Siemens will convene a new Industry Innovation Accelerator with digital companies and manufacturing businesses to identify how to speed up and widen the adoption of transformative AI solutions across manufacturing.
In aerospace, Spirit AeroSystems are developing technologies for the storage and integration of liquid hydrogen on large aircraft while Goodrich is developing a power-dense electric propulsion motor drive system aimed at hybrid and electric aircraft including helicopters and potentially next generation single aisle planes. TT Electronics is developing technology to support electrical power conversion and electric machines for future more electric and all electric aircraft operating at higher voltages.
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