UK-Alumotor

UK-Alumotor, supported by Driving the Electric Revolution (part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund), will develop a dedicated supply chain to manufacture a patented electric machine (e-machine) which will exploit UK-based high-value manufacturing technology. The e-machine will leverage specialist material, transferring technology developed within the aerospace & motorsports sectors, together with commodity materials. The e-machine will make use of aluminium & iron, rather than copper and rare earth metals (used in permanent magnet motors) which suffer price volatility and import tariffs. This provides the UK supply chain with competitive advantage to fulfil the growing market demand for traction e-machines during the next decade and beyond.

The UK-Alumotor consortium, led by Ricardo, is a diverse team of partners from across the UK in conjunction with non-grant claiming OEM stakeholders McLaren and JCB. Our manufacturing partners Aspire, Brandauer, GTR and PSI will assess, select and develop low-cost, lean manufacturing processes that can be scaled to deliver the e-machine at appropriate volumes. These scalable processes will ensure quality, minimise material waste together with the lifecycle assessment impact of the e-machine.

JCB and McLaren will provide application sector feedback to the supply chain throughout the work, ensuring that the product meets the specific needs of the performance sports car and off-highway markets. By aligning our approach to application requirements, we ensure the final "design for manufacture" product remains suitable for adoption into multiple sectors including aerospace, marine and rail.

Our academic partner WMG will support the programme through literature review, technical workshops and dedicated advisory work. They will deploy learning from the programme to improve their e-machine models in support of virtual validation.

The lifecycle impact of the product will be considered throughout the supply chain. Using widely available, and recycled, metals within the e-machine will reduce the lifecycle impact of the e-machine compared with permanent magnet-based motors.

UK-Alumotor is a transformative programme that will build a UK supply chain to deliver a high performance, e-machine at a reduced cost and volume in order to drive the electric revolution, both within the UK and the export market.