As part of the mission to support the decarbonization of the global transport and energy sectors, a new digitally enabled Electrified Propulsion Research Centre has opened in the UK to help shape the future of sustainable transport.
Created by Ricardo, an engineering and strategic consulting company, the facility has been opened at its Shoreham Technical Centre in West Sussex.
Designed to support the company’s existing work in powertrain optimization and electrification, the new state-of-the-art research center, which has cost £5.5m and included a grant of £1.5m from Coast2Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, will enable the research and development of the next generation of electrified vehicles from component level subsystems to fully integrated powertrains. It will significantly increase the range of services and solutions across all platforms and applications in electric vehicle development available to global customers.
Steve Dyke, managing director Ricardo Automotive and Industrial EMEA Division said: “We continue to consolidate our position as a trusted engineering partner delivering clean, efficient and integrated propulsion and energy systems across all modes of transport. A key component of our strategy is to establish a global center of excellence for electrified transport engineering at our Shoreham Technical Centre: which will be essential for the future of sustainable mobility.”
The new research center will be underpinned by digital engineering and simulation technology, including digital twins which will replicate the physical environment and will be refined with actual test data to accelerate development times. The facility is designed to integrate seamlessly with the company’s digital analysis, simulation and calibration accelerators so that vehicles can be developed holistically using fully optimized technology solutions. This will further enhance the company’s established digital engineering expertise, allowing the provision of customer solutions which: are greener because they are less energy- and resource-intensive; remove risk from development through more efficient, faster digital techniques; reduce cost and time to market to provide competitive advantage.
Ricardo’s Electrified Propulsion Research Center in conjunction with its investment in the building of a hydrogen test and development center will create a clean energy transport center of excellence which will be unique in the UK. It will provide customers with access to a powerful flexible package of decarbonized and electrified transport engineering test and development services.
