Advanced Propulsion Centre

{{Infobox company

| name = Advanced Propulsion Centre

| logo =

| key_people = Ian Constance (CEO)

| location = University of Warwick, United Kingdom

| homepage = [https://www.apcuk.co.uk/ www.apcuk.co.uk]

| foundation = 2013

}}

The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) is a non-profit organisation that facilitates funding to UK-based research and development projects developing net-zero emission technologies.[http://past.cenex-lcv.co.uk/2016/advanced-propulsion-centre-uk.asp Advanced Propulsion Centre UK @ LCV2016], Cenex. Retrieved 29 May 2018. It is headquartered at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.

The APC manages a £1 billion investment fund, which is jointly supplied by the automotive industry – via the Automotive Council – and the UK government through the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and managed by Innovate UK.

History

The APC was founded in 2013 as a joint venture between the automotive industry and UK government to "research, develop and commercialise technologies for vehicles of the future". Both government and the automotive industry committed to investing £500 million each, totalling £1 billion over a ten year period.[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/billion-pound-commitment-to-power-uk-auto-sector-to-the-future Billion pound commitment to power UK auto sector to the future], Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Retrieved 29 May 2018. The creation of the APC was part of the coalition government's automotive industrial strategy.[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211901/13-975-driving-success-uk-automotive-strategy-for-growth-and-sustainability.pdf Driving success – a strategy for growth and sustainability in the UK automotive sector], Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

In January 2014, Gerhard Schmidt was appointed as Chair and Tony Pixton as Chief Executive.[https://www.smmt.co.uk/2014/01/smmt-welcomes-advanced-propulsion-centre-appointments/ SMMT welcomes Advanced Propulsion Centre appointments], The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Retrieved 29 May 2018. It announced its first round of funding in April 2014, awarding £28.8 million funding to projects worth £133 million, led by Cummins, Ford, GKN and JCB.[https://www.lowcvp.org.uk/news,first-investments-by-advanced-propulsion-centre-announced_2977.htm First Investments by Advanced Propulsion Centre announced], LowCVP. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

The Advanced Propulsion Centre was officially opened by Vince Cable in November 2014.[https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2379941/uks-gbp1bn-advanced-propulsion-centre-opens-it-doors UK's £1bn Advanced Propulsion Centre opens its doors], Business Green. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

Ian Constance was appointed Chief Executive in September 2015.[https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/08/ian-constance-appointed-apc-chief-executive/ Ian constance appointed APC Chief Executive], The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Retrieved 29 May 2018. In the 2015 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that an additional £225 million budget for automotive research and development would be facilitated by the APC.[https://www.ft.com/content/72db99ba-9365-11e5-bd82-c1fb87bef7af Autumn Statement: experts question infrastructure investment], Financial Times. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

Funding competitions

The Advanced Propulsion Centre awards funding to consortia of organizations including vehicle manufacturers, tier 1 automotive suppliers, SMEs and academic institutions, which are developing low carbon powertrain technology.

The APC has several kinds of funding mechanisms available:"[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/impact/funded-projects/ Funded Projects]", APC. Retrieved 21 June 2024.

Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator (ARMD)
Automotive Transformation Fund
Collaborative R&D Competitions
Production Readiness Competition
Technology Demonstrator Accelerator Programme (TDAP)

class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
style="width:20em;" \|Date competition opened ! style="width:20em;" \|Date funding awarded ! style="width:20em;" \|Consortium leads ! style="width:20em;" \|Funding amount
\|April 2014 \|Ford, Cummins, GKN, JCB \|£28.8 million[https://www.lowcvp.org.uk/news,first-investments-by-advanced-propulsion-centre-announced_2977.htm First Investments by Advance Propulsion Centre announced], LowCVP. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
April 2014 \|November 2014 \|Jaguar Land Rover \|£32 million{{cite web \|url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2014/11/vince-cable-to-open-advanced-propulsion-centre/ \|title=Vince Cable to open £1bn Advanced Propulsion Centre for cleaner greener vehicles \|website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|date=6 November 2014}}
November 2014 \|March 2015 \|Wrightbus, Intelligent Energy, Hofer Powertrain, Perkins Engines \|£80 million{{cite web \|url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/03/vince-cable-announces-80m-low-carbon-funding/ \|title=Vince Cable announces £80m low carbon funding \|website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders \|date=27 March 2015 \|access-date=29 May 2018}}
May 2015{{cite web \|url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/05/apc-announces-60-million-funding-for-low-carbon-technologies/ \|title=APC announces £60 million funding for low carbon technologies \|website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|date=15 May 2015}} \|January 2016 \|The London Taxi Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Morgan Motor Company, AGM Batteries, Parker Hannifin \|£75 million{{cite web \|url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2016/01/100266/ \|title=£75 million of APC funding announced for low carbon automotive technology \|website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|date=15 January 2016}}
December 2015{{Cite web \|date=2015-12-11 \|title=New funding competition and sixth spoke announced by Advanced Propulsion Centre \|url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/12/new-funding-competition-and-sixth-spoke-announced-by-advanced-propulsion-centre/ \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders \|language=en-GB}} \|September 2016 \|Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Turner Powertrain, Dearman \|£84 million{{Cite web \|title=Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren get clean engine tech grant \|url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/jaguar-land-rover-and-mclaren-get-clean-engine-tech-grant \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|website=Autocar \|language=en}}
January 2017 \|April 2017 \|BMW, New Holland Agriculture, Jaguar Land Rover, Williams Advanced Engineering, Penso Consultin, Ford, Westfield Sportscars \|£62 million{{Cite web \|last=Roberts \|first=Gareth \|title=Advanced Propulsion Centre awards low carbon cash \|url=https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/environment/2017/04/11/advanced-propulsion-centre-awards-low-carbon-cash \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|website=Fleet News \|language=en \|date=11 April 2017}}
July 2017 \|January 2018 \|Ford, GKN, Jaguar Land Rover \|£26 million{{cite web \|url-status=dead \|url=https://www.just-auto.com/news/uk-gov-does-automotive-sector-deal_id180613.aspx \|title=UK gov does automotive 'sector deal' \|website=Just Auto \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203170337/https://www.just-auto.com/news/uk-gov-does-automotive-sector-deal_id180613.aspx \|archive-date=Feb 3, 2019 \|first=Dave \|last=Leggett \|date=10 January 2018}}
January 2018{{Cite web \|last=Jones \|first=Tamlyn \|date=2018-01-10 \|title=Up to £85m in new funding to develop automotive technology \|url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/manufacturing/up-85m-new-funding-develop-14138168 \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|website=Birmingham Post \|language=en}} \|March 2018 \|Artemis Intelligent Power, Ceres Power, hofer powertrain \|£35 million "[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news/35m-invested-in-the-development-of-low-carbon-automotive-technologies/ £35M Invested in the Development of Low Carbon Automotive Technologies]", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
April 2018{{cite web \|url=https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/apc%27s-30m-funding-competition-aims-for-zero-emission-cars-of-the-future \|title=APC's £30m funding competition aims for zero-emission cars of the future \|publisher=Professional Engineer \|access-date=29 May 2018 \|website=IMechE }} \|June 2018 \|Jaguar Land Rover, Sigmatex \|£22 million "[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news/apc-funding-drives-uk-lightweighting/ £35M APC Funding Drives UK Lightweighting]", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
August 2018 \|October 2018 \|Arcola Energy, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover \|£25 million "[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news/25m-investment-safeguards-and-creates-1750-uk-automotive-jobs/ £25M investment safeguards and creates 1,750 UK automotive jobs]", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
August 2021 \|June 2022 \|OX Delivers, Norton \|£43.7 million {{Cite web \|title=Electric motorbikes and off-road trucks to unlock growth and jobs across the UK \|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/electric-motorbikes-and-off-road-trucks-to-unlock-growth-and-jobs-across-the-uk \|access-date=2022-06-28 \|website=GOV.UK \|language=en \|date=17 June 2022}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"

style="width:20em;" |Date competition opened

! style="width:20em;" |Date funding awarded

! style="width:20em;" |Consortium leads

! style="width:20em;" |Funding amount

|April 2014

|Ford, Cummins, GKN, JCB

|£28.8 million[https://www.lowcvp.org.uk/news,first-investments-by-advanced-propulsion-centre-announced_2977.htm First Investments by Advance Propulsion Centre announced], LowCVP. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

April 2014

|November 2014

|Jaguar Land Rover

|£32 million{{cite web |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2014/11/vince-cable-to-open-advanced-propulsion-centre/ |title=Vince Cable to open £1bn Advanced Propulsion Centre for cleaner greener vehicles |website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |access-date=29 May 2018 |date=6 November 2014}}

November 2014

|March 2015

|Wrightbus, Intelligent Energy, Hofer Powertrain, Perkins Engines

|£80 million{{cite web |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/03/vince-cable-announces-80m-low-carbon-funding/ |title=Vince Cable announces £80m low carbon funding |website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |date=27 March 2015 |access-date=29 May 2018}}

May 2015{{cite web |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/05/apc-announces-60-million-funding-for-low-carbon-technologies/ |title=APC announces £60 million funding for low carbon technologies |website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |access-date=29 May 2018 |date=15 May 2015}}

|January 2016

|The London Taxi Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Morgan Motor Company, AGM Batteries, Parker Hannifin

|£75 million{{cite web |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2016/01/100266/ |title=£75 million of APC funding announced for low carbon automotive technology |website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |access-date=29 May 2018 |date=15 January 2016}}

December 2015{{Cite web |date=2015-12-11 |title=New funding competition and sixth spoke announced by Advanced Propulsion Centre |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2015/12/new-funding-competition-and-sixth-spoke-announced-by-advanced-propulsion-centre/ |access-date=29 May 2018 |website=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |language=en-GB}}

|September 2016

|Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Turner Powertrain, Dearman

|£84 million{{Cite web |title=Jaguar Land Rover and McLaren get clean engine tech grant |url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/jaguar-land-rover-and-mclaren-get-clean-engine-tech-grant |access-date=29 May 2018 |website=Autocar |language=en}}

January 2017

|April 2017

|BMW, New Holland Agriculture, Jaguar Land Rover, Williams Advanced Engineering, Penso Consultin, Ford, Westfield Sportscars

|£62 million{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Gareth |title=Advanced Propulsion Centre awards low carbon cash |url=https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/environment/2017/04/11/advanced-propulsion-centre-awards-low-carbon-cash |access-date=29 May 2018 |website=Fleet News |language=en |date=11 April 2017}}

July 2017

|January 2018

|Ford, GKN, Jaguar Land Rover

|£26 million{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=https://www.just-auto.com/news/uk-gov-does-automotive-sector-deal_id180613.aspx |title=UK gov does automotive 'sector deal' |website=Just Auto |access-date=29 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203170337/https://www.just-auto.com/news/uk-gov-does-automotive-sector-deal_id180613.aspx |archive-date=Feb 3, 2019 |first=Dave |last=Leggett |date=10 January 2018}}

January 2018{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Tamlyn |date=2018-01-10 |title=Up to £85m in new funding to develop automotive technology |url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/manufacturing/up-85m-new-funding-develop-14138168 |access-date=29 May 2018 |website=Birmingham Post |language=en}}

|March 2018

|Artemis Intelligent Power, Ceres Power, hofer powertrain

|£35 million "[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news/35m-invested-in-the-development-of-low-carbon-automotive-technologies/ £35M Invested in the Development of Low Carbon Automotive Technologies]", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

April 2018{{cite web |url=https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/apc%27s-30m-funding-competition-aims-for-zero-emission-cars-of-the-future |title=APC's £30m funding competition aims for zero-emission cars of the future |publisher=Professional Engineer |access-date=29 May 2018 |website=IMechE }}

|June 2018

|Jaguar Land Rover, Sigmatex

|£22 million "[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news/apc-funding-drives-uk-lightweighting/ £35M APC Funding Drives UK Lightweighting]", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

August 2018

|October 2018

|Arcola Energy, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover

|£25 million "[https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news/25m-investment-safeguards-and-creates-1750-uk-automotive-jobs/ £25M investment safeguards and creates 1,750 UK automotive jobs]", APC. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

August 2021

|June 2022

|OX Delivers, Norton

|£43.7 million {{Cite web |title=Electric motorbikes and off-road trucks to unlock growth and jobs across the UK |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/electric-motorbikes-and-off-road-trucks-to-unlock-growth-and-jobs-across-the-uk |access-date=2022-06-28 |website=GOV.UK |language=en |date=17 June 2022}}

Spokes

The Advanced Propulsion Centre operates a 'hub and spoke' model, where the 'hub' is its headquarters at the University of Warwick, and the 'spokes' are universities across the UK with specialisms in particular areas of net-zero emission vehicle technology.

Spoke locations:{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=https://www.apcuk.co.uk/planning-future-automotive/spokes/ |title=Spoke Community |website=APC |access-date=10 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410160215/https://www.apcuk.co.uk/planning-future-automotive/spokes/ |archive-date=10 April 2019 }}

Newcastle University - Newcastle upon Tyne, England – Electric Machines
University of Nottingham – Nottingham, England – Power Electronics
University of Warwick – Coventry, England – Electrical Energy Storage
University of Bath – Bath, England – TPS System Efficiency
Loughborough University – London, England – [http://www.ideuk.org Institute of Digital Engineering]
University of Brighton – Brighton, England – TPS Thermal Efficiency

Activities

In April 2018, APC announced that an APC-funded project has enabled Ford to develop new low emissions technology, which will go into production on its 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine.{{cite web |url=http://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk/design-engineering-news/apc-makes-30m-funding-available-to-reduce-carbon-emissions/173303/ |title=APC makes £30m funding available to reduce carbon emissions |website=Eureka! |access-date=29 May 2018 |date=30 Apr 2018 |first=Tom |last=Austin-Morgan }}

In February 2018, Nissan completed an APC-funded project with Hyperdrive, the Newcastle University, Warwick Manufacturing Group and Zero Carbon futures, to develop a new production process for its 40kWh battery cells. The cells are produced in Sunderland, England, and are fitted to the Nissan Leaf.{{Cite web |date=2018-02-26 |title=APC project powers Nissan LEAF and develops UK supply chain |url=https://www.machinery.co.uk/content/news/apc-project-powers-nissan-leaf-and-develops-uk-supply-chain/ |access-date=29 May 2018 |website=Machinery |language=en |first=Adam |last=Offord }}

In January 2018, Yasa, an electric motor manufacturer based in Oxford, England, opened a new factory to produce 100,000 motors per year, using APC funding. The facility created 150 jobs, with 80% of production expected to be exported.{{Cite web |title=Oxford company opens EV motor facility |url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/oxford-company-opens-ev-motor-facility |access-date=29 May 2018 |date=1 February 2018 |first=Jimi |last=Beckwith |website=Autocar |language=en}}

In September 2017, the Metropolitan Police trialled a fleet of hydrogen-powered Suzuki Burgman scooters, which were developed as part of an APC-funded project.[https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2017/september/metropolitan-police-hydrogen-suzuki-burgman/ Met Police to trial hydrogen scooters], Motor Cycle News. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

In January 2017, an APC grant allowed Ford to begin a 12-month pilot of its Transit Custom Plug-in Hybrid in London, England.[https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/20/ford-begins-testing-transit-plug-in-hybrids-in-london-ahead-of-2019-production/ Ford begins testing Transit Plug-in Hybrids in London ahead of 2019 production], TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 May 2018.