Vehicle Electrical Systems Integration (VESI)

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Transport)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electric power conversion)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Professor P Mawby
School of Engineering
University of Warwick

Standard

EPSRC

01 October 2011

31 March 2016

54 months

£3,154,532

Electrical engineering

West Midlands

User-Led Research

Professor P Mawby, School of Engineering, University of Warwick

Dr A Cruden, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton
Professor A Forsyth, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester
Professor CM Johnson, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Nottingham
Professor E Levi, Engineering, Liverpool John Moores University
Dr PC Luk, School of Engineering, Cranfield University
Professor P.H. Mellor, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol
Dr V Pickert, Electrical, Electronic & Computer Eng, Newcastle University
Dr K Pullen, Sch of Engineering and Mathematical Sci, City University
Dr DA Stone, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield

Project Contact, Prodrive Ltd
Project Contact, Infineon Technologies AG, Germany
Project Contact, HILTech Developments Ltd
Project Contact, Motor Design Ltd
Project Contact, TATA Motors Engineering Technical Centre
Project Contact, ABB Group (International), Switzerland
Project Contact, Jaguar Land Rover Limited
Project Contact, International Rectifier
Project Contact, Scottish and Southern Energy plc
Project Contact, AG Holding Ltd (trading as Axeon)
Project Contact, Arnold Magnetic Technologies Ltd
Project Contact, Zytek Group Ltd
Project Contact, Hiflux Ltd
Project Contact, Semelab Plc
Project Contact, Sevcon Ltd
Project Contact, Allied Vehicles Ltd
Project Contact, Ricardo AEA Limited
Project Contact, Converteam Ltd
Project Contact, Dynex Semiconductor Ltd
Project Contact, Scorpion Precision Industry (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., China

The urgent need for EV technology is clear. Consequently, this project is concerned with two key issues, namely the cost and power density of the electrical drive system, both of which are key barriers to bringing EVs to the mass market. To address these issues a great deal of underpinning basic research needs to be carried out. Here, we have analysed and divided the problem into 6 key themes and propose to build a number of demonstrators to showcase the advances made in the underlying science and engineering.We envisage that over the coming decades EVs in one or more variant forms will achieve substantial penetration into European and global automotive markets, particularly for cars and vans. The most significant barrier impeding the commercialisation EVs is currently the cost. Not until cost parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is achieved will it become a seriously viable choice for most consumers. The high cost of EVs is often attributed to the cost of the battery, when in fact the cost of the electrical power train is much higher than that of the ICE vehicle. It is reasonable to assume that that battery technology will improve enormously in response to this massive market opportunity and as a result will cease to be the bottleneck to development as is currently perceived in some quarters. We believe that integration of the electrical systems on an EV will deliver substantial cost reductions to the fledgling EV marketOur focus will therefore be on the two major areas of the electrical drive train that is generic to all types of EVs, the electrical motor and the power electronics. Our drivers will be to reduce cost and increase power density, whilst never losing sight of issues concerning manufacturability for a mass market

16/02/12