Clean vehicle technology specialist Zytek has won a £1.35 million grant from the UK Government’s Regional Growth Fund to support the development of an Electric Powertrain Technologies Centre.
Based at the company’s technical centre in Staffordshire (UK), the new facility will create 44 jobs developing low carbon technologies for the automotive and other industries.
A further £3.65 million will be invested by Zytek, bringing the total up to £5 million.
The main focus of the centre will be on the development of high-efficiency, light-weight electric motors, inverters and energy storage systems.
As well as employing new staff, Zytek will step-up its training for existing personnel. Topics will range from the latest technologies and analytical techniques to test procedures, with some courses leading to qualifications through partnering academic institutions. Zytek’s own investment will also strengthen the company’s analytical facilities, particularly in thermal characterisation and efficiency analysis, which it believes are key areas of expertise for size, cost and weight reduction.
Zytek Automotivehas designed and integrated electric drive systems for a wide range of European and US vehicle manufacturers. The company is currently building high performance electric drivetrains from 25kW -70kW and has drives of 100kW and more in development to meet growing demand for zero emissions light commercial vehicles and high-performance passenger cars.
Their UK facility can integrate up to 6,000 E drives a year in batches as low as 100, providing vehicle manufacturers with a highly flexible specialist production resource for their low carbon vehicle programmes.
