Ricardo consortia win funding for low carbon vehicle development programmes

The UK government’s Technology Strategy Board today announced funding of £23 million for 16 innovative low carbon vehicle development projects. Including partner contributions these projects collectively represent a total value of £52 million. As a technology leader in high fuel economy/low carbon vehicle technologies, Ricardo will be an active participant in three of the winning project consortia

Building on the work of the 2/4SIGHT engine concept, the 2/4CAR project aims to deliver a global premium vehicle demonstrating a 25-30 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions with no loss of performance using an innovative, highly-downsized gasoline engine with two-stroke/four-stroke switching technology. Laboratory work has shown that torque output more typical of an engine of twice the capacity is achievable. The engine design incorporates a cycle-switching valvetrain, an advanced boosting and control system, and will demonstrate powertrain integration and driveable control strategies. Ricardo will lead this project which will be carried out by a consortium also including the University of Brighton, DENSO Sales UK Ltd and Jaguar Cars Ltd.

Reflecting the emerging importance of vehicle electrification, Ricardo will also participate in the Range Extended Electric Vehicle project which will be led by Land Rover. This project aims to develop a modular electric & electric/diesel powertrain, suitable for several different vehicle types, which will be tested on a large premium sport utility platform delivering 120 to 130 g/km and zero emissions range of at least 12 miles. The project will also investigate range extension and plug-in charging and installation/ commissioning of local recharging facilities for vehicle trials within the vehicle fleet of E-ON, who along with Ameriac Projects Ltd are also consortium members.

Kinetic energy recovery will be the theme of the Flywheel Hybrid System for Premium Vehicles project. This project will involve the design development of a mechanical hybrid (flywheel and variable drive system) kinetic energy recovery system for use in a premium segment passenger vehicle as an alternative, cost competitive solution to other hybrid systems. The project will demonstrate this within an existing vehicle platform to prove its effectiveness and viability for production and suitability for modular application. Jaguar Cars will lead this project which will be carried out by a consortium also including Flybrid Systems, Ford Motor Company Limited, Prodrive, Ricardo UK Ltd, Torotrak plc, and Xtrac Ltd.

“We welcome the investment decision announced today by the Technology Strategy Board and look forward to participating in three of the major UK low carbon vehicle programmes that have successfully secured funding”, said Neville Jackson, Ricardo technology director. “Improving fuel economy and reducing carbon emissions is a major imperative globally for both the automotive industry and society in general. We are proud that the consortia in which we are participating have secured funding for these three very important projects, which aim to provide some of the crucial enabling technologies for future low carbon road transport applications.”