More than £377,000 of Niche Vehicle Systems R&D funding has been awarded to eight consortia of UK niche vehicle manufacturers, systems suppliers and technology companies, all of whom are developing innovations with huge potential for both niche and volume vehicle makers. This new investment into engineering research projects has been provided by the Niche Vehicle Network, with backing from the Technology Strategy Board, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.

Since the inception of the NVN in 2005, the network has been a catalyst for over 100 different manufacturing collaborations and has provided grant funding for a range of vehicle, system and manufacturing process improvement projects. The systems competition has awarded up to £50,000 of grant funding for small systems-orientated projects, running over a three month timescale.

The winners of the current NVN systems competition are:

Clean Air Power – working in conjunction with Eminox, this Buckingham-based business is developing two prototype systems that aim to reduce methane emissions from dual-fuel diesel/natural gas engines. The objective is to design, manufacture and install novel and complex exhaust after-treatment system prototypes to enable alternatively-fuelled heavy duty trucks to meet Euro 6 compliance.

Hyperdrive Innovation – Based in Cramlington, north of Newcastle upon Tyne, this business is working with neighbouring electronics manufacturer Opsol to develop a new intelligent energy management system (iMES) to a proof-of-concept stage. It is hoped that this energy saving innovation will have applications in the niche electric and hybrid vehicle market.

Performance Engineered Solutions – Working closely with TEKS Ltd and Sheffield University AMRC, PES is leading the field in the development of environmentally-friendly, lightweight composite materials. Instead of using carbon fibre and epoxy resin systems, PES is exploring the use of biomaterials such as bamboo and hemp fibres, with bio resins such as walnut or cashew nut as a sustainable alternative. This project aims to gather valuable technical data on the use of alternative composite materials, build a vehicle body panel from the new bio-composites and subject the material to rigorous testing.

Oaktec Hybrids – This Lancaster based business is working in conjunction with MIRA and Dalearo to develop an ultimate low-drag aerodynamic shape for a low-speed, two seater car.

Causeway – Working in conjunction with Javan Sportcars, Causeway is investigating low cost alternatives into composite component tooling. The anticipated outcome will be to develop robust, low cost alternative composite tooling systems suitable for the niche vehicle sector.

Pi Innovo – This Cambridge-based company is developing a unique micro-hybrid start/stop system for retrofit and OEM use. The ultimate aim is to develop a retro-fit system that can be fitted to road-going diesel engine vehicle fleets to improve fuel economy.

Zytek Automotive – Working with REAPsystems, Zytek plans to utilise its extensive industry knowledge to develop a hybrid vehicle battery that is class leading in terms of performance and most importantly, weight. With target performance set at 3.5kW/kg, this novel battery solution utilises Li-Ion Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) to meet the increasing demands of vehicle manufacturers.

Revolve – Brentwood-based Revolve is leading the way in the highly specialised field of hydrogen ignition by biodiesel.  Working in conjunction with Commercial Group, Revolve plans to run live trials of various biodiesel blends to ascertain the most effective mixtures for hydrogen engines. This technology will allow hydrogen to be used for commercial vehicles where the future use of fuel cells is likely to be cost prohibitive.

All eight systems winners outlined above, as well as the five R&D competition winners announced in September 2012, will be attending the NVN Symposium in the spring to discuss their innovations and provide updates on their projects. The event takes on 19 March 2013, at Gaydon Heritage Centre, Warwickshire. To register your interest in attending this event, please click here.
 

Back to News