Ricardo wins Government funding to develop sustainable motors for electric light commercial vehicles

As part of its mission to support the decarbonisation of the global transport and energy sectors Ricardo, a world-class environmental, engineering and strategic consulting company, has announced that it has won two UK Government-backed innovation competitions to support the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles by developing a dedicated electric motor for battery electric light commercial vehicles.

Ricardo has been developing a rare-earth magnet-free sustainable electric motor concept with aluminium stator windings, which retains the key attributes of magnet-rich motors. The goal has been to create technology which is robust, costs less than current products and reduces lifecycle impact by eliminating the use of scarce resources for example up to 12kg of rare earth metals and also high acidification materials such as copper without impacting motor function or quality.

Through the first funding award from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) in partnership with Innovate UK, Ricardo is seeking to develop the motor concept specifically for battery electric light commercial vehicles. This is to improve the take-up of battery electric light commercial vehicles by making them more efficient, cost-effective and more sustainable.

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