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13/09/2011
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A new £3.5million research project involving Imperial College London and the Universities of Oxford, Coventry, Cranfield and Loughborough has been set up to help the UK automotive industry develop the next generation of low emission vehicles.
 The FUTURE initiative, which is due to start this month, aims to devise new computer models to test the components and systems that power zero emission electric and hybrid vehicles. It is hoped that this will lead to vehicles that are more affordable and better designed than current models.
"Approximately 70 million cars are produced each year and only a fraction of them are low emission vehicles," said Dr Gregory Offer, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering. "We are still a long way off from developing low emission vehicles that can compete with their combustion engine cousins on performance and price. This project aims to provide much needed support to the UK's automotive industry so that ultimately, our motorways in 50 year's time will be cleaner and greener."
As part of the project, engineers from Imperial College London will be creating computer models to help industry improve the performance of batteries, fuel cells and super capacitors, in order to reduce the number needed to run a vehicle. The models should allow engineers and designers to experiment with the configuration of various components.
"The UK government has set the goal of largely decarbonising our road transport by 2050, which is a massive task," noted Professor Nigel Brandon, EFL Director. "The only way that this will be achieved is if we pool the resources in this country to tackle the challenge head-on. The academic consortium will provide us with a unique opportunity to carry out research, share ideas and develop useful tools that will help the UK automotive industry to improve low emission vehicles."
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Author
Laura Hopperton
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