Following recent news, Aston Martin has been awarded £9 million of government funding by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK. This funding is an excellent chance for us to delve into other related issues and obtain an in-depth understanding of the UK government's dedication towards promoting cleaner mobility. The awarded money will support Aston Martin's high-performance electrification strategy, \which will involve innovation in the modular battery electric vehicle platform , vehicle light-weighting, a digital toolchain and electrification training. To keep itself relevant with the new-age technologies, the brand is making a £2 billion commitment to advanced technologies over the next five years. Moreover, the Project 'ELEVATION', which is a six-partner joint research and development project led by Aston Martin, supported by the Manufacturing Technology Centre, Expert Tooling & Automation, Creative Composites, Fuzzy Logic Studio and WMG, and the University of Warwick, is focussing in advancing an 800V traction battery pack and twin front electric drive unit (EDU) into a modular BEV platform. The support and required monetary assistance will help the brand and the government amplify its efforts in net-zero emissions. But the question is ....... ?
Who Is Advanced Propulsion Centre, And What Do They Do?
The Advanced Propulsion Centre is an organisation headquartered at the University Of Warwick in Coventry, England, that collaborates with the UK government, the automotive industry and academia to fastrack and develop technology supporting the transition to delivering net-zero emission vehicles. The organisation was founded back in 2013. In the latest funding rounds, they shared £86.9m of government and industry funding into zero tailpipe emission vehicle technology. "The 23rd round of our collaborative R&D competition coincides with the APC's 10th anniversary. We have seen over £1.4bn of investment into automotive projects since the APC was set up, and I am proud of the impact that we have made here in the UK." said APC Chief Executive Officer Ian Constance. Apart from Aston Martin, a few other organisations have also been awarded; here is a list of some.
Yasa- The company founded in 2009 , now acquired by Mercedes in 2021, makes the world’s lightest in-wheel electric motor and is focused on creating a technology related to electric motors. Gestamp’s Autotech Engineering R&D - They work in the design, development and manufacture of metal automotive components.Then there is a hydrogen-hybrid, integrated power system for off-highway vehicles developed by Perkins.
According to reports, all these total projects and more , cost £67.9M, out of which £33.9M are government grants combined with industry match-funding. APC, along with industry giants and government, is working and putting its efforts into sustainable development and subsequently awarding technologies that will lead to the net zero carbon goal.
In India, we do have a government engagement programme in technology development with new schemes and sponsors for innovation and business development. The New Generation Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (NewGen IEDC) is the programme launched by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and implemented by EDII, Ahmedabad.We also Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to develop a culture of innovation.
