CVE and Ford win ?430,000 grant to speed up production of electric vehicle engines
Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) and Ford have won a GBP430,000 research grant that could help them speed up the production of electric vehicle engines. The grant is a share of a GBP5.8million fund from UKRI's Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge, which is delivered by Innovate UK.
Together the companies will explore the automation and scale-up of electron beam welding for the joining of copper and aluminium components used to power electric motors for the automotive industry. Under the project, titled EB-eDrive, Waterbeach-based CVE and Ford will seek to reduce the time it takes to manufacture hairpin stators - the electromagnet system that is key to the smooth running of electric vehicle engines.
If this process can be sped up, the production of electric vehicles in the UK could accelerate. CVE is a leading provider of electron beam[1] and laser welding systems. Electron beam welding is significantly quicker than conventional laser welding techniques and is already making an impact on clean energy by, for example, speeding up the process at which wind turbines and nuclear reactors can be produced, while reducing the energy used and cutting the carbon footprint of the associated processes.
Electron beam welding is significantly faster than conventional laser welding techniques. The technology is already making a major difference in other clean energy applications - significantly accelerating the pace at which wind turbines and nuclear reactors can be produced while also reducing the amount of energy used and cutting the carbon footprint of associated processes. Bob Nicolson, CEO of Aquasium Technology - the parent company of Cambridge Vacuum Engineering - said: "We are delighted that EB-eDrive is one of 12 projects awarded a grant by Innovate UK.
"It's exciting to be working with Ford Powertrain Manufacturing Engineering and collaborating on such an important research initiative. The potential benefits that electron beam welding can bring to the production of motor stators is huge. "As well as looking to reduce manufacturing time, we'll also be seeing what we can do to improve the quality of hairpin welds to reduce the risk of electrical shortcuts and the production of non-functioning stators.
"With the funding granted by Innovate UK our aim is to demonstrate how electron beam welding - as an advanced manufacturing technique - can accelerate the green transformation of the UK automotive industry and keep the country at the forefront of global vehicle production and innovation." CVE and Ford have agreed a scope of works, drawn up preliminary designs and welded some small samples already. Innovate UK - the government-sponsored national innovation agency that is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) - is investing heavily in electrification technologies such as power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) in the drive towards net zero.
And this is not the first Innovate UK grant won by CVE. It received funding in February 2023 under UKRI's Faraday Battery Challenge, also delivered by Innovate UK, to support the research and development of the sustainable battery technologies for the propulsion of electric vehicles. This ongoing project - EB-Bat - is a collaboration with Delta Cosworth and TWI.
They are designing, building and testing an electron beam welding machine that can weld battery busbar components.
References
- ^ CVE is a leading provider of electron beam (www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk)