The Vehicle Electrical Systems Integration (VESI) project received £3.1m of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to bring together 10 UK-leading research groups in power electronics and electrical machines, with the aim of developing new electric vehicle (EV) technologies that will meet the challenges and opportunities facing the EV market over a 10-15 year horizon. The project started in September 2011 and runs for four years.

It is envisaged that over the coming decades, EVs in one or more variant forms will achieve substantial penetration into European and global automotive markets, particularly for cars and vans. The most significant barrier impeding the commercialisation of EVs is currently the cost. Therefore, the focus of this project will be on the two major areas of the electrical drive train that is generic to all types of EVs: the electrical motor and the power electronics. Our drivers are to reduce cost and increase power density, whilst never losing sight of issues concerning manufacturability for a mass market.

The project consists of six research themes and three demonstrator projects, each of which will produce tangible outputs by the end of the project.

Photo: academic partners from the universities of Bristol, City, Cranfield, Liverpool John Moores, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, and Warwick (coordinator of the project).

You'll find several videos about the project on the resources page.