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Advanced Propulsion Centre

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Advanced Propulsion Centre
Founded2013
HeadquartersUniversity of Warwick, United Kingdom
Key people
Ian Constance (CEO)
Websitewww.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.

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

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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

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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.

The APC has several kinds of funding mechanisms available:[9]

  • Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator (ARMD)
  • Automotive Transformation Fund
  • Collaborative R&D Competitions
  • Production Readiness Competition
  • Technology Demonstrator Accelerator Programme (TDAP)
Date competition opened Date funding awarded Consortium leads Funding amount
April 2014 Ford, Cummins, GKN, JCB £28.8 million[10]
April 2014 November 2014 Jaguar Land Rover £32 million[11]
November 2014 March 2015 Wrightbus, Intelligent Energy, Hofer Powertrain, Perkins Engines £80 million[12]
May 2015[13] January 2016 The London Taxi Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Morgan Motor Company, AGM Batteries, Parker Hannifin £75 million[14]
December 2015[15] September 2016 Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Turner Powertrain, Dearman £84 million[16]
January 2017 April 2017 BMW, New Holland Agriculture, Jaguar Land Rover, Williams Advanced Engineering, Penso Consultin, Ford, Westfield Sportscars £62 million[17]
July 2017 January 2018 Ford, GKN, Jaguar Land Rover £26 million[18]
January 2018[19] March 2018 Artemis Intelligent Power, Ceres Power, hofer powertrain £35 million [20]
April 2018[21] June 2018 Jaguar Land Rover, Sigmatex £22 million [22]
August 2018 October 2018 Arcola Energy, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover £25 million [23]
August 2021 June 2022 OX Delivers, Norton £43.7 million [24]

Spokes

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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:[25]

Activities

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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.[26]

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.[27]

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.[28]

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.[29]

In January 2017, an APC grant allowed Ford to begin a 12-month pilot of its Transit Custom Plug-in Hybrid in London, England.[30]

See also

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References

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  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. ^ "Funded Projects", APC. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  10. ^ First Investments by Advance Propulsion Centre announced, LowCVP. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Vince Cable announces £80m low carbon funding". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ^ "APC announces £60 million funding for low carbon technologies". The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  14. ^ "£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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren get clean engine tech grant". Autocar. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  17. ^ Roberts, Gareth (11 April 2017). "Advanced Propulsion Centre awards low carbon cash". Fleet News. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Jones, Tamlyn (10 January 2018). "Up to £85m in new funding to develop automotive technology". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  20. ^ "£35M Invested in the Development of Low Carbon Automotive Technologies", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  21. ^ "APC's £30m funding competition aims for zero-emission cars of the future". IMechE. Professional Engineer. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  22. ^ "£35M APC Funding Drives UK Lightweighting", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  23. ^ "£25M investment safeguards and creates 1,750 UK automotive jobs", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Electric motorbikes and off-road trucks to unlock growth and jobs across the UK". GOV.UK. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  25. ^ "Spoke Community". APC. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  26. ^ Austin-Morgan, Tom (30 April 2018). "APC makes £30m funding available to reduce carbon emissions". Eureka!. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  27. ^ Offord, Adam (26 February 2018). "APC project powers Nissan LEAF and develops UK supply chain". Machinery. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  28. ^ Beckwith, Jimi (1 February 2018). "Oxford company opens EV motor facility". Autocar. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  29. ^ Met Police to trial hydrogen scooters, Motor Cycle News. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  30. ^ Ford begins testing Transit Plug-in Hybrids in London ahead of 2019 production, TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
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