Case Studies

An APC-funded project, led by Tevva Trucks in partnership with Advanced Electric Machines Ltd, has demonstrated the need for and developed a hydrogen fuel cell range extender to combat the current requirement for heavy batteries in heavy-duty trucks. This collaborative R&D project SANGREAL is a major step forward in the development of viable low-carbon transport.

Much of the energy is consumed by off-highway work vehicles is used in lifting, carrying or digging - for which the technology can often be comparatively old-fashioned and inefficient. In 2018, the Advanced Propulsion Centre awarded a £10.9 million grant to the DDISPLACE project, which set out to address these challenges with a fundamental rethink on hydraulic system design.

Battery researchers have traditionally had to rely on computer models if they wanted to observe the flow of current within a cell. These vary in accuracy, and any errors in the simulation can be carried through to the cell design, affecting its real-world performance. So, what if you could see inside the cell and directly visualise the flow of current?

The fleet market is one of the most promising applications for lightweight composite materials.

Follow the story of Sunderland-based SME Hyperdrive, as it grows from a small portacabin to production facility.

H1PERBAT is a project led by Williams Advanced Engineering, supported by the Advanced Propulsion Centre. This project inspired Williams Advanced Engineering and Unipart Manufacturing group to set up a joint venture, Hyperbat limited.

Steve Morris, Managing Director, Morgan: “This is a game changer for Morgan that would not have been possible without the support of APC, and the collaboration it has brought to the business”.

hofer powertrain, Germany, is one of the world’s leaders in the development of powertrain technologies and manufactures class-leading hybrid transmissions. Its UK subsidiary is collaborating with WMG, McLaren Automotive and Yasa Motors through an Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) project that will provide the UK with capability for the design and manufacture of advanced hybrid transmissions, complementing the next generation of low carbon vehicles.

The GKN Hybrid Power flywheel is an electric flywheel, storing energy mechanically in a high-speed carbon rotor. This novel technology cut its teeth in top-flight endurance racing, helping to power Audi’s R18 e-Tron Quattro to four successive Le Mans 24-hour race podiums. The APC ‘Gyrodrive’ project, which closed in September ’17, sought to develop and test this technology for use in the Hybrid bus market.

Intelligent Energy (IE) represents one of the UK’s most innovative organisations when it comes to the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology and our competitions have enabled IE, and its partners’ innovations to reach the point of market readiness.