Engineering news
F1 team Williams has sold the part of its business which developed the flywheel-based Kinetic Energy Recovery System used in its race cars to engineering giant GKN.
The move sees the subsidiary company Williams Hybrid Power rebranded as GKN Hybrid Power and the transfer of around 50 engineers at its Oxfordshire site to GKN. As part of the deal, Williams will receive a share of future sales and licences from the energy storage technology.
Williams Hybrid Power is the developer of Williams' successful flywheel Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which debuted in the team's 2009 F1 car and was used in the Le Mans winning Audi R18 e-tron quattro.
The KERS has since been adapted for use in mass transit applications such as buses and trams in partnership with the Go-Ahead Group and Alstom respectively. The technology harvests energy that is normally lost as heat when braking and turns it into additional power.
Williams said: “We reached a crossroads. We have been focussed on R&D and validating the technology. We've now proved that it works and are at the stage where we need to ramp up to mass production and we don't have the resources, finance and space, to do it properly.”
Mike O'Driscoll, chief executive of GKN, said: “GKN have the resources and expertise to fully realise the enormous potential of this motorsport proven flywheel technology, primarily within a variety of public transport applications.
“The business is now at the point of broader market commercialisation.”
The announcement follows the news last month that tests of the Torotrak-owned Flybrid flywheel energy recovery system by Volvo have shown fuel savings of up to a quarter and an 80hp performance boost. According to Williams, its KERS offers fuel and emissions savings of up to 30%.
The Williams' sale covers the use of the flywheel technology for transport applications only, and does not affect the projects that Williams Advanced Engineering, a separate part of Williams, is running in the stationary power sector. Williams' engineers are installing flywheel systems in the Scottish Isles of Eigg and the Fair Isle to help balance the intermittent power supply of offshore wind turbines installed there.
However, the technology is derived from the same source. Williams Hybrid Power has existed since 2008, after Williams acquired a stake in flywheel technology developer Automotive Hybrid Power. Williams then became the subsidiary's majority shareholder in 2010.