Immediate: 20 Nov 2009
Controlled Power Technologies joins high level low-carbon vehicle debate in India
Controlled Power Technologies, which specialises in the development of CO2 reducing technologies, is joining other UK companies and delegates attending a low-carbon vehicle mission to India, timed to coincide with the 4th biennial international Environmentally Friendly Vehicle (EFV) conference being held in Delhi on the 23-24 November 2009 – an event supported by UNECE (United Nations Economic Council for Europe) and sponsored by the FIA Foundation.
The week-long mission, supported by the UK government’s international business development organisation UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), will be looking at opportunities for greater collaboration on low carbon vehicle research, development, demonstration and deployment. A series of bilateral meetings will help exchange high level information and facilitate co-operation in this important area. The programme includes the participation of the major Indian automotive trade associations SIAM and ACMA as well as leading Indian manufacturers and technology companies.
At a seminar being held in Delhi on 25 November, Mike Dowsett, senior manager micro-hybrids, Controlled Power Technologies, will join representatives from Ricardo and MIRA in a discussion on the hybridisation of vehicles. CPT’s research and development of an electric supercharger, high efficiency starter-generator and exhaust driven turbo-generator represents the type of technology necessary for the progressive electrification of a conventional powertrain.
“With virtually no intrusion on base engine design, car makers can confidently apply the technology with relative ease to existing vehicle programmes and at significantly lower cost than developing a full hybrid vehicle,” says Dowsett. “The availability of cost-effective technology is an important consideration particularly in the present economic climate.”
Micro-hybrid technology could prove timely in helping car makers meet an EC requirement of 130g/km CO2 by 2012 for two-thirds of their vehicles and for all cars to meet the limit by 2015, followed by a target to achieve 95g/km by 2020.
Dowsett will explain how the technology can facilitate radical downsizing of gasoline and diesel engines without compromising vehicle performance or driveability - now widely recognised as a critical marketing issue. In combination, CPT’s electric boosting, stop-start and power regeneration systems offer significant CO2 reduction, enabling a typical Golf-sized family car to achieve less than 100g/km. The technology also has applications in fuel cell electric vehicles and for reducing NOx emissions in diesel engines.
Dowsett has been deeply involved in micro and mild hybrid technology for the automotive industry for the past decade. He began his working career with Ford at Dagenham in the UK before joining Visteon’s Advanced Powertrain Engineering division to head-up its 42V development programme, leading a global team based in North America, Portugal and England. He was a member of the Sci-worx GmbH 42V committee and worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to host a 42V technology show in Palmela, Portugal, during the summer of 2002. When the industry decided 42V was too costly and the risk of arcing too high, Dowsett initiated the development of a highly efficient 12-volt belt-integrated starter-generator (B-ISG), which has evolved into the CPT SpeedStart system.
A keynote address will be delivered at the seminar by Professor Julia King, vice chancellor of Aston University, who is also attending the EFV conference. She was appointed by the UK government to review the vehicle and fuel technologies that, over the next 25 years, could help to reduce carbon emissions from road transport. Professor King works closely with the UK government as a member of the management board of the Department for Business Innovation & Skills and serves the Committee on Climate Change. Her recommendations were published in March 2008. Professor King is also a member of the governing board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Transportation.
Other technical sessions at the seminar will debate electric vehicles, fuel efficiency and advanced materials with knowledgeable specialists drawn from UK industry and academia. The delegation will then fly out to Pune on 27 November for further business meetings and a technology workshop at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which has been playing a crucial role in assuring safe, less polluting and more efficient vehicles for the country.
According to the UKTI website, India’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, with a rapidly expanding consumer class. It says that with strong ties between the two countries, UK and Indian companies are well positioned to develop partnerships to benefit from escalating market opportunities. Further information on the UKTI seminar and mission programme is available at http://www.business-business.co.uk/uktiindia/index.html
The Environmentally Friendly Vehicle (EFV) conference is a biennial international conference. Previous EFV conferences were held in Tokyo in 2003, Birmingham in 2005 and Dresden in 2007. More information about the Delhi conference is available at http://www.4efv.in/
Controlled Power Technologies was set up in 2007 as a management buy-in funded by venture capital initially to acquire advanced powertrain technologies from Visteon Corporation and its technology development partner Emerson Corporation. CPT comes with a highly experienced team of automotive engineers and is backed by a number of prominent investors specialising in the energy and environmental sectors. Further information on Controlled Power Technologies is available at www.cpowert.com
Media information: Journalists requesting interviews and wishing to drive CPT demonstrator vehicles should contact Rob Palmer on +44 (0) 1582 763255 or +44 (0) 7768 242761 Email: rpalmer@palmerpr.com . The pictures accompanying this press release, as well as previous press releases and images, can be downloaded from www.newspress.co.uk.
Mike Dowsett, CPT Hybrids Senior Manager
