Advanced Propulsion Centre

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.

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

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 opened Date funding awarded Consortium leads Funding amount
April 2014 Ford, Cummins, GKN, JCB £28.8 million[9]
April 2014 November 2014 Jaguar Land Rover £32 million[10]
November 2014 March 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 2016 Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Turner Powertrain, Dearman £84 million[15]
January 2017 April 2017 BMW, New Holland Agriculture, Jaguar Land Rover, Williams Advanced Engineering, Penso Consultin, Ford, Westfield Sportscars £62 million[16]
July 2017 January 2018 Ford, 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 2018 Jaguar Land Rover, Sigmatex £22 million [21]
August 2018 October 2018 Arcola Energy, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover £25 million [22]
August 2021 June 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

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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