Advanced Propulsion Centre

Last updated

Advanced Propulsion Centre
Founded2013
Headquarters University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Key people
Ian Constance (CEO)
Website www.apcuk.co.uk

The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) is a non-profit organisation that facilitates funding to UK-based research and development projects developing net-zero emission technologies. [1] It is headquartered at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.

Contents

The APC manages a £1 billion investment fund, which is jointly supplied by the automotive industry – via the Automotive Council – and the UK government through the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and managed by Innovate UK.

History

The APC was founded in 2013 as a joint venture between the automotive industry and UK government to "research, develop and commercialise technologies for vehicles of the future". Both government and the automotive industry committed to investing £500 million each, totalling £1 billion over a ten year period. [2] The creation of the APC was part of the coalition government's automotive industrial strategy. [3]

In January 2014, Gerhard Schmidt was appointed as Chair and Tony Pixton as Chief Executive. [4] It announced its first round of funding in April 2014, awarding £28.8 million funding to projects worth £133 million, led by Cummins, Ford, GKN and JCB. [5]

The Advanced Propulsion Centre was officially opened by Vince Cable in November 2014. [6]

Ian Constance was appointed Chief Executive in September 2015. [7] In the 2015 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that an additional £225 million budget for automotive research and development would be facilitated by the APC. [8]

Funding competitions

The Advanced Propulsion Centre awards funding to consortia of organizations including vehicle manufacturers, tier 1 automotive suppliers, SMEs and academic institutions, which are developing low carbon powertrain technology.

Date competition openedDate funding awardedConsortium leadsFunding amount
April 2014 Ford, Cummins, GKN, JCB £28.8 million [9]
April 2014November 2014 Jaguar Land Rover £32 million [10]
November 2014March 2015 Wrightbus, Intelligent Energy, Hofer Powertrain, Perkins Engines £80 million [11]
May 2015 [12] January 2016 The London Taxi Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Morgan Motor Company, AGM Batteries, Parker Hannifin £75 million [13]
December 2015 [14] September 2016Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Turner Powertrain, Dearman£84 million [15]
January 2017April 2017 BMW, New Holland Agriculture, Jaguar Land Rover, Williams Advanced Engineering, Penso Consultin, Ford, Westfield Sportscars £62 million [16]
July 2017January 2018Ford, GKN, Jaguar Land Rover£26 million [17]
January 2018 [18] March 2018 Artemis Intelligent Power, Ceres Power, hofer powertrain£35 million [19]
April 2018 [20] June 2018Jaguar Land Rover, Sigmatex£22 million [21]
August 2018October 2018Arcola Energy, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover£25 million [22]
August 2021June 2022 OX Delivers, Norton£43.7 million [23]

Spokes

The Advanced Propulsion Centre operates a 'hub and spoke' model, where the 'hub' is its headquarters at the University of Warwick, and the 'spokes' are universities across the UK with specialisms in particular areas of net-zero emission vehicle technology.

Spoke locations: [24]

Activities

In April 2018, APC announced that an APC-funded project has enabled Ford to develop new low emissions technology, which will go into production on its 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine. [25]

In February 2018, Nissan completed an APC-funded project with Hyperdrive, the Newcastle University, Warwick Manufacturing Group and Zero Carbon futures, to develop a new production process for its 40kWh battery cells. The cells are produced in Sunderland, England, and are fitted to the Nissan Leaf. [26]

In January 2018, Yasa, an electric motor manufacturer based in Oxford, England, opened a new factory to produce 100,000 motors per year, using APC funding. The facility created 150 jobs, with 80% of production expected to be exported. [27]

In September 2017, the Metropolitan Police trialled a fleet of hydrogen-powered Suzuki Burgman scooters, which were developed as part of an APC-funded project. [28]

In January 2017, an APC grant allowed Ford to begin a 12-month pilot of its Transit Custom Plug-in Hybrid in London, England. [29]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Advanced Propulsion Centre UK @ LCV2016, Cenex. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Billion pound commitment to power UK auto sector to the future, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Driving success – a strategy for growth and sustainability in the UK automotive sector, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  4. ↑ SMMT welcomes Advanced Propulsion Centre appointments, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  5. ↑ First Investments by Advanced Propulsion Centre announced, LowCVP. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  6. ↑ UK's £1bn Advanced Propulsion Centre opens its doors, Business Green. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  7. ↑ Ian constance appointed APC Chief Executive, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Autumn Statement: experts question infrastructure investment, Financial Times. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  9. ↑ First Investments by Advance Propulsion Centre announced, LowCVP. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Vince Cable to open £1bn Advanced Propulsion Centre for cleaner greener vehicles". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "Vince Cable announces £80m low carbon funding". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "APC announces £60 million funding for low carbon technologies". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "£75 million of APC funding announced for low carbon automotive technology". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "New funding competition and sixth spoke announced by Advanced Propulsion Centre". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren get clean engine tech grant". Autocar. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  16. ↑ Roberts, Gareth (11 April 2017). "Advanced Propulsion Centre awards low carbon cash". Fleet News. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  17. ↑ Leggett, Dave (10 January 2018). "UK gov does automotive 'sector deal'". Just Auto. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  18. ↑ Jones, Tamlyn (10 January 2018). "Up to £85m in new funding to develop automotive technology". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "£35M Invested in the Development of Low Carbon Automotive Technologies", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "APC's £30m funding competition aims for zero-emission cars of the future". IMechE. Professional Engineer. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "£35M APC Funding Drives UK Lightweighting", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  22. ↑ "£25M investment safeguards and creates 1,750 UK automotive jobs", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  23. ↑ "Electric motorbikes and off-road trucks to unlock growth and jobs across the UK". GOV.UK. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  24. ↑ "Spoke Community". APC. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  25. ↑ Austin-Morgan, Tom (30 April 2018). "APC makes £30m funding available to reduce carbon emissions". Eureka!. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  26. ↑ Offord, Adam (26 February 2018). "APC project powers Nissan LEAF and develops UK supply chain". Machinery. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  27. ↑ Beckwith, Jimi (1 February 2018). "Oxford company opens EV motor facility". Autocar. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  28. ↑ Met Police to trial hydrogen scooters, Motor Cycle News. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  29. ↑ Ford begins testing Transit Plug-in Hybrids in London ahead of 2019 production, TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
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