British consortium to develop the world’s best EV powertrain

GKN, Drive System Design and University of Nottingham collaborate on ACeDrive electric powertrain project.

By Lawrence Allan, Autocar UK calendar 18 Jun 2019 Views icon7780 Views Share - Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to LinkedIn Share to Whatsapp
British consortium to  develop the world’s best EV powertrain

A new British consortium aims to design and develop a global-use, world-leading fully electric powertrain with funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC). 

GKN Automotive, a tier one electric vehicle driveline supplier, has joined up with Drive System Design and the University of Nottingham as part of the £8 million (Rs 69 crore) project - doubled by the APC’s match-funding scheme. 

The project, called ACeDrive, intends to produce “the world’s lightest and most efficient electric vehicle powertrain suitable for the volume market”. GKN claims it will adopt “groundbreaking concepts in cooling and system integration” to reduce the size and cost by 25 percent, reduce the weight by 20 percent and increase efficiency by 10 percent compared with current equivalent EV systems. The system will combine the electric motor, transmission and inverter in one compact unit. 

GKN claims development is currently in the simulation analysis phase, with the final design to be commenced later this year and prototype testing in 2020. The project is based in GKN’s Innovation Centre in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

Gordon Day, general manager at GKN Automotive Innovation Centre, said: "We are developing a truly advanced eDrive system, more compact and cost-effective than other technologies on the horizon. Our ambition is to help the UK take the lead in electric powertrain design and manufacturing capability”.

Source

Also read: Renault to introduce 8 new electric vehicles in 2022

EIB loans €73.5 million to Barcelona for hybrid, CNG and electric vehicles

RELATED ARTICLES
Skoda begins sale of made-in-India CKD Kushaq in Vietnam

auther Autocar Professional Bureau calendar30 Jun 2025

Before production started, pre-series Kushaq vehicles covered over 330,000 kilometres on a variety of Vietnamese roads a...

Six Japanese companies join forces to expand use of recycled materials in new vehicles

auther Autocar Professional Bureau calendar30 Jun 2025

Denso, Toray Industries, Nomura Research Institute, Honda Motor, Matec Inc and Rever Corporation have set up the BlueReb...

BYD selects Voestalpine as steel supplier for its Hungarian plant

auther Autocar Professional Bureau calendar28 Jun 2025

The announcement of the Austrian steelmaker as a supplier demonstrates BYD’s strategic plan to source from high-quality,...