Low carbon technology in pole position with Formula E
Next week, the 2015 LowCVP Conference will bring together industry and government to discuss how cutting edge electric motorsport technology can transfer to mainstream automotive applications.
The event on Wednesday 24 June is being held in London just days before Britain’s first FIA Formula E electric car race in the capital. Supported by the APC, the event will focus on how low carbon propulsion technology used in racing can be developed for use in the wider automotive market. Delegates will be discussing the possibilities for Formula E with the key players in the room including:
Formula E, Chief Executive – Alejandro Agag
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport– Andrew Jones MP
Director, Energy, Technology & International, Department for Transport – Michael Hurwitz
President of the AA – Edmund King
Chief Scientist and Policy Director, Greenpeace – Dr Doug Parr
The LowCVP Conference is another milestone on the journey to transfer technology from racetrack to automotive and follows the APC’s investment in motorsport innovation for on- and off-road use. GKN’s project develops a LeMans-winning flywheel for use in buses, demonstrating how collaboration delivers results.
There is potential for more companies working to transfer the low carbon technology of motor racing and Formula E into mass production to gain grant funding from the APC in the current grant funding competition with up to £60 million currently available to support low carbon advanced propulsion projects worth more than £120 million.
The competition which opened on the 5th May and runs until the end of June is called ‘APC4 Driving UK Capability and Economic Impact through Low Carbon Propulsion Technologies’ for projects which are collaborative and business-led and include a vehicle manufacturer or a tier 1 supplier and an SME partner. They must also develop the UK’s supply chain in the field of low carbon vehicle propulsion technology. The competition will fund the development of on-vehicle technologies for either on-road or off-highway vehicles.
Consortia must have a clear, demonstrable route to production, and line of sight to market, involving at least one vehicle manufacturer and/or a tier 1 supplier and at least one SME partner.