Ricardo Hybrid Powertrain

Delivery Body: Ricardo

Theme: Digital

Coast to Capital LGF Allocation: £1.5m

Match Funding Contribution: £3.4m

Project Status: Delivering

 

Summary of Project

Ricardo's is a state of the art facility located next to Shoreham airport. The use of the facility is for the research of and development of low carbon and advanced automotive electronic technologies including hybrid and electric powertrains. This project is to deliver a unique four-wheel drive hybrid powertrain rig to enable the research of the next generation of electric powertrain systems and vehicles, to ensure that this UK Company can attract international research and development contracts for the testing of electric hybrid vehicles.

 

Ricardo are one of the leading vehicle research organisations and identified that the UK was losing research and development commissions to overseas organisations as a result of not having enough UK capacity to test electric vehicle drive trains. The facility that Coast to Capital has invested Local Growth Funding into will include state of the art facilities to test hybrid and electric vehicle drive trains under all manner of conditions. This will also include the ability to test integrated systems and modern vehicle drive train equipment including regenerative braking.

 

Ricardo acknowledged that with LEP they would not have the ability to raise enough capital through their own resources to create such a project and that with LEP assistance the new facility will attract significant international trade opportunities from overseas vehicle manufacturers to be able to test drive train equipment and to be able to compete on an international stage for attracting the best technology to the UK to further our carbon reduction strategy.

 

Key Outputs

• 400 jobs
• 400 safeguarded jobs
• 100sqm refurbished training / learning facilities
• 10 Enterprises supported

 

View the minutes of the meeting where the desicion to approve this project was taken here.