Low Carbon Vehicle programme to receive lightweight structures expertise from Caparo
company news from - Caparo
07 July 2008
Expected weight savings of between 20 and 40 percent to be achieved through component redesign and innovative use of advanced materials
The Limo Green project recently announced by the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Transport will receive specialist support with the development of lightweight vehicle structures and components from Caparo Vehicle Technologies. The project, which is being led by Jaguar Land Rover aims to prove the concept of developing a large executive hybrid saloon with sub 120g/km emissions, while maintaining the high levels of vehicle performance and refinement.
“Caparo is delighted to have been selected as one of the key partners for the Limo Green project,” comments Caparo Vehicle Products chief executive officer Richard Butler. “Weight continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing engineers in their pursuit of reduced vehicle emissions. With our significant experience in developing lightweight vehicle structures and components we are aiming to reduce the weight of the specific systems by between 20 and 40 percent. These reductions will play a significant part in helping achieve the challenging emissions target which has been set for the project.”
Caparo will be working on five specific areas of the vehicle. Brakes (both calipers and discs), the rear sub-frame, the rear floor, the seat frame and the door inner, will all be redesigned to incorporate lightweight materials, in a manner that can be reproduced in a mainstream high-volume manufacturing programme.
“The potential of advanced materials such as carbon composites to deliver considerable weight savings has been recognised for many years, but apart from some specialist applications on low-volume vehicles, high material and production costs has meant that their promising properties have remained largely unexploited,” explains Caparo Vehicle Technologies director Ben Scott-Geddes. “Our work on Limo Green and other projects will employ innovative processes that reduce cycle times, one of the critical factors in the high cost of carbon composites, to a fraction of the best currently achieved. This will make the components more affordable and suitable for mainstream manufacturing environments and help vehicle manufactures achieve considerable weight and emissions reductions.”
The Limo Green project marks Caparo’s first collaboration with the Technology Strategy Board and is one of 16 development projects, worth over £52m, to receive a share of £23m government investment through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform. The platform was established in autumn 2007 and aims to accelerate the market introduction of low carbon road transport vehicles and maximise the benefits to UK businesses.
Commenting on the Technology Strategy Board's investment in the project, its Chief Executive, Iain Gray, said: "Cleaner and more efficient vehicles are a vitally important part of our response to global climate change challenges and will help the UK to meet demanding new CO2 standards for new vehicles. This is why we are investing in innovative low-carbon technology development through the Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform. Such innovative technology will also help position British companies to benefit from the growing domestic and international demand for lower carbon vehicles."
About Caparo
Caparo Group is a worldwide manufacturing company specialising principally in steel, aluminium and composite products for all industries. The group, led by chief executive officer Angad Paul, was founded in 1968 by Lord Paul and remains wholly owned by the Paul family with global headquarters in London. The company’s automotive and engineering businesses, have considerable expertise in precision-formed and lightweight metal products (including stamping, forging, machining and aluminium castings), in fasteners and high-precision tubing, as well as in systems and module integration, carbon composite structures and high-performance braking systems.
www.caparo.com
About the Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its mission is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). For further information please visit www.innovateuk.org.
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