APC15@FutureBEV project completion after 4 years of collaboration

And that’s a wrap for APC15FutureBEV project, nearly 4 years of teamwork that brought together vision, ambition and passion. This project had that in spades and CIL is very proud and grateful to have been able to be a part of it.

 Accelerated Technologies for Future Battery Electric Vehicles (@FutureBEV) aimed to create competitive powertrains in function and costs and enable UK technology transformation to zero emission mobility for this Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC 15) project.

                                                                             SHOWCASE DEMONSTRATOR EVENT WITH ALL PROJECT PARTNERS

 Why did BMW choose a team of British small businesses and academics to design the next-generation of inverters for its battery electric vehicles?

David Bock, BMW Technical Lead on the £36 million @FutureBEV project, explains it's down to the UK's expertise in power electronics. “If you can make the parts simpler, you reduce the cost, you improve the reliability and you make it more accessible. And that was very important in the project", he said. It marked BMW’s transition to SiC-based power electronics in its future generations of battery electric vehicle (BEV) and laid the foundation for 100kW/l inverters, significantly exceeding industry targets. The collaborative project not only delivered from an R&D perspective, but helped strengthen the UK supply chain in this emergent technology. As part of the consortium, academic and SME partners were able to demonstrate UK R&D capabilities, which staggered the BMW team in Munich.

                                                                                                     IT ALL STARTED IN 2019 AT THE OFFICIAL PROJECT LAUNCH

APC15@FutureBEV focused on delivering mainstream, competitive EV powertrains, both in function and cost, simultaneously fostering a new domestic supply chain for subcomponents and system capability, enabling the UK’s transition to future electromobility. The project used Silicon Carbide (SiC) inverters working at 800V, rather than the typical 400V, to allow faster charging, higher performance, and greater efficiency. It also focused on increasing reliability and bringing down manufacturing costs. David Bock, Project Technical Lead at BMW, said “If you can make the parts simpler, you reduce the cost, you improve the reliability and you make it more accessible. And that was very important in the project.” The project marked BMW’s transition to SiC-based power electronics in its future generations of Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) and laid the foundation for 100kW/l inverters, significantly exceeding industry targets.  

As a result of the project, the University of Warwick has built a world-leading testing facility for power electronics and attracted interest from other OEMs, such as JLR. CIL which manufactures the inverter, SiC power module and associated control PCBA was also able to attract new customers thanks to its involvement on the project. The design for the inverter was created by Lyra and Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, strengthening the supply chain for power electronics in the UK.

CIL have heavily invested, designed, develop and optimised innovative and unique manufacturing processes required to produce high performance SiC power modules for electric vehicle applications. Focusing on high pressure sinter die attach and high pressure AMB to baseplate attach, all developed to minimise thermal impedance and increase overall system performance. High pressure sintering was also employed to attach copper clips in place of historical wire bonds for high current paths. Typically, wire bonds in these paths have been shown to fail in service over prolonged use, with sintered copper clips greatly improving product robustness and life expectancy. CIL have also used the @FutureBEV project to grow their in-house module testing capability, from electrical to environmental validation, aligned to AQG324. Custom Interconnect, which manufactures the inverter and power module, was also able to attract new customers thanks to its involvement on the project. This project combined with other “Net Zero” projects and CIL’s existing commercial customers resulted in CIL creating its BP2 facility which opened in June 2023. This 64,000sq ft facility already houses a 15,000sq ft Class 7 Cleanroom and a further 12,000sq ft high volume SMT PCBA assembly and test area with further room for expansion. The BP2 facility houses the UK largest Semiconductor packaging facility which today finds itself manufacturing SiC and GaN power modules as well as CIL’s expanding Si device packaging. The APC15@FutureBEV project played a significant role in creating CIL and the UK’s largest Semiconductor packaging facility.

                                                                 CIL's BP2 FACILITY - THE UK's LARGEST SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGING FACILITY

                                                 15,000SQ FT CLASS 7 CLEANROOM FOR POWER MODULE AND SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGING

                                                                                                           THE GROWING PACKAGING TEAM

                                                       VOLUME SMT PCBA ASSEMBLY LINE MANUFACTURING 1,000,000 ASSEMBLIES / ANNUM           

As a result of the project, the University of Warwick has built a world-leading testing facility for power electronics and attracted interest from other OEMs, such as JLR. The design for the inverter was created by Lyra and Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, strengthening the supply chain for power electronics in the UK. The project has also been a platform for graduates and interns to develop their knowledge of power electronics, helping to build up their expertise for future roles and grow the industry. @FutureBEV was a £26 million project which received £13 million in government grant funding through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK.

At the Showcase demonstrator event we heard about the deployable technologies that have been designed, developed & tested by the partners BMW Group, Custom Interconnect Limited, Lyra Electronics Ltd, University of Warwick, Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult during this APC 15 Advanced Propulsion Centre UK funded project. Collaborative working where we have all learnt lessons to be able to take forward to benefit follow on projects.

                                                                                     SHOWCASE DEMONSTRATOR TEAM PHOTO'S & OFFICIAL APC VIDEO

Thank you to APC Matthew Pardington our PDL and Innovate UK Paul Acarnley our MO and Zoe Hall & Joe Lyford for supporting the project so diligently.
Our case study is now available on line at at the APC website; https://lnkd.in/eraDtP9e thank you to Evie Steward for all the effort that's gone into the making of this.

Big thank you to all our wonderful partners, and if anyone gets the opportunity to work with BMW, do it. The culture, knowledge, collaboration are incredible, you will see benefit and impact. David Bock, Dr. Franz Geyer, Dr. Juliane Kluge Julian Wilberg you are all great visionaries, so much has been achieved in such a small time.

 You have all made the last 4 years quite a journey, what’s next 😊