A consortium of automotive partners including US owned European electric vehicle manufacturer Think, Indian owned, Jaguar Land Rover of the UK (which is using Bladon Jets Ltd range extenders), US owned Lotus of the UK and Nissan of Japan has been granted £9.5m by the UK government to aid research into range-extended electric vehicles (REEV).
This is the bridge between hybrids and pure electric vehicles and success with REEV will be applied to electric vehicles on land, water and in the air. In the UK, early candidates may include the planned Lightning Car Company second generation pure electric sports car for instance and BAE Systems military EV drive systems.
Under this " REEVolution" program, the consortium will develop components and systems that will expand and extend electric vehicle range and directly address 'range anxiety', a term General Motors recently attempted to trademark that denotes concerns over the range capability of pure electric vehicles, the addition of a conventional engine being inadequate legacy thinking for more than the short term.
Boosters specifically designed for range extension of pure EVs include the monoblock mini internal combustion engine of Lotus and the monoblock mini turbine of Bladon Jets that Jaguar Land Rover is trialling. Look up at an aircraft to see how incredibly reliable is the jet engine and lightweight for the power delivered.
Consortium partners Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus Engineering, Nissan Motor (cars, industrial EVs, batteries), Think (cars), Axeon 9batteries), Evo Electric (electric motors/ generators) and Xtrac (transmission) will also contribute £11m in matching funds, bringing the total project investment up to £20m.
The investment was made by the UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB) alongside the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Office for Low Emissions Vehicles, as part of the next stage of its Integrated Delivery Programme (IDP) for low-carbon vehicles. TSB's low-carbon initiative focuses on the supply chain and technology, areas which TSB chief Iain Gray said are both vital if mass production of low-carbon vehicles in the UK is to become a reality.
The REEVolution programme builds on a previous project led by Jaguar and Lotus and part-funded by the TSB called Limo Green, in which they developed a series of hybrid range-extended electric Jaguar XJ vehicles delivering an overall capability of 600 miles coupled with an electric vehicle mode range of 30 miles.
However, whereas the Limo Green hybrid project delivered and low carbon dioxide emissions below120g/km, the REEVolution programme targets tailpipe emissions of below 50g/km, representing up to 75 per cent reductions compared with vehicles with a conventional powertrain.
Think said the partners will collaborate over the next two years to develop advanced electric powertrains and to gain a greater understanding of the commercial requirements needed for high performance electric and range-extended electric vehicles. The group seeks to accelerate the development of new technologies and key commodities, while laying the foundations for a globally competitive supply base, Think said.
Jaguar Land Rover chief hybrid technology engineer Pete Richings said, "REEVolution is going to take us to the next level of understanding in delivering high end performance on premium and desirable electric and hybrid cars."
For more read: Electric Vehicles 2010-2020 also attend: Future of Electric Vehicles which uniquely covers the whole electric vehicle market - land, sea, air whether hybrid or pure EV - with emphasis on future breakthroughs.
