Ultra-fast charging and hydrogen lorries benefit from £91m government funding

Projects focused on ultra-fast charging of electric vehicles and hydrogen engines for lorries will benefit from a share of £91m new government funding.

An electric battery to rival the range of internal combustion engines and a ‘radical redesign’ of light and medium-sized commercial electric vehicles are the focus of two other projects to receive funding, through the Advanced Propulsion Centre’s (APC) Collaborative Research and Development competition.

The four projects are:

• BMW-UK-BEV, Oxford – £26.2m to develop an electric battery that will rival the driving range of internal combustion engines, aiming to tackle ‘range anxiety’
• Project Celeritas, Birmingham – £9.7m to create ultra-fast charging batteries for electric and fuel cell hybrid vehicles that can charge in as little as 12 minutes
• Brunel project, Darlington – £14.6m to develop a ‘novel’ hydrogen-fuelled engine to help decarbonise heavy goods vehicles
• REECorner, Nuneaton – £41.2m to ‘radically redesign’ light and medium-sized commercial electric vehicles by moving steering, breaking, suspension and powertrain into the wheel arch, enabling increased autonomous capability, storage space and design flexibility.

Together the schemes could prevent almost 32m tonnes of carbon emissions, the government said, and secure over 2,700 jobs across the country.

“As we move steadily towards the UK’s ban on new petrol and diesel combustion engine vehicles in 2030, tackling consumers’ concerns on electric vehicles head-on is critical,” said Richie Frost, founder and CEO of Sprint Power, on Celeritas.

“We are delighted to be leading this pioneering project that will create a step change in battery charge times, helping to create highly efficient fuel cell vehicles for the future and accelerating the charging time on battery electric vehicles significantly closer to refuelling times on today’s internal combustion engine cars.”

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