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Tag Archives: automotive

PRV Engineering > automotive
23 Jul 2016

Surprising benefactors of motorsport technology

When we think of the technical developments in F1 and motorsport generally, we can all probably think of an area in the automotive industry where those developments have had an impact. But do you ever think about what or who else benefits of those developments?
If I was to say that the care of premature babies has been impacted by motorsport technical developments you’d probably wonder how. What about supermarkets? How could they possibly benefit from the motorsport industry?

These are only a couple of examples of where motorsport innovation is being used to solve challenges in other industrial sectors.

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8 Jul 2016

Date set for the Bloodhound SSC record attempt

One month on from our last post about Bloodhound, the date for the first record attempt has been set. October 2017 will see the first land speed record attempt for 20 years.

The signing of a major deal means that the project has now secured funding to complete the car and start preparing for their testing in South Africa next year.

When Bloodhound went on display in 2015 it was as a trial build and without fluids. This was done to make sure that the 35,000 individual and bespoke parts actually fitted together. Brackets were checked to see if they were in the right places leaving enough room for service and maintenance activity as well as checking the tolerance of manufactured parts.

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3 Jun 2016

Bloodhound inspiring scientists and engineers of the future

At the end of April the Bloodhound Education team, combined with the BBC micro:bit project launched a huge competition for secondary school children; The Model Rocket Car Challenge.

Supported by the army and Microsoft among others, and forming part of the Guinness World record rocket car challenge, school teams are challenged to make foam rocket cars and race them through approved tracks; the aim of course, to be the fastest!

The races are being organised through the network of Bloodhound hubs and will see a series of regional heats that will lead up to a final at the end of June at the Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire. The winners will spend a day watching Bloodhound test runs as well as securing a financial prize for their school.

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24 Mar 2016

Sports car production is coming to South Wales

Following on from last week’s exciting news about the partnership between Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing, we are sticking to the theme of motorsport with the news that sports car production is coming to South Wales.

Both TVR and Aston Martin have announced facilities for South Wales.

After much speculation Aston Martin announced that they will open a new factory at St Athan where they will build the new DBX crossover model. It is expected that the factory will be producing cars in 2020. The factory will create more than 750 jobs; even more when the wider supply chain and local business is considered.

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18 Mar 2016

Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing join forces and build hypercar

Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing announced a partnership this week to create the next generation hypercar.

The project, codenamed ‘AM-RB 001’ is to be a collaboration between Red Bull Racing’s chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey and Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, bringing the classic and signature sports car design of Aston Martin together with the cutting edge F1 technology of Red Bull Racing to produce the ultimate hypercar.

The project will combine and unite some of the world’s best aerodynamics, composite experts and manufacturing masters bringing anticipation and excitement to customers and enthusiasts worldwide.

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22 Jan 2016

UK Car Manufacturing at a 10 Year High

Cast your mind back a few months to all the bad news surfacing in the automotive industry and you would be forgiven for expecting to see reports saying that 2015 was a bad year for the industry.

There were product recalls due to faulty airbag units which impacted the likes of Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Honda. Then there was the Volkswagen emissions scandal. At the end of 2015 it was estimated that 11 million cars were recalled due to the emissions issues alone and UK sales of some of its brands fell sharply in October and November.

However, despite these problems throughout the year, the UK car manufacturing industry has continued to do well and is re-establishing a reputation for quality, manufacturing excellence and innovation. So well in fact, that it hit a 10 year high in 2015 and exported more vehicles than ever before.

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18 Sep 2015

Electric Car Industry Boosting Busbar Uptake

In the majority of instances a busbar is a better choice for conduction needs however the uptake of busbars as standard parts has been somewhat slower than one might imagine when looking at all the benefits they bring. The benefits over cabling in most instances are quite well documented.

  • Versatility both in terms of the various connections and the ease with which busbars are installed and changed means they are quicker and easier to slot into design work
  • Physical costs of installing busbars are lower because they are easier to install and wiring errors are eliminated
  • Busbars can be made to order and between the various different material make-ups there are busbars fit for almost any purpose
  • Busbars allow better thermal management both due to their inherently better connections and also their sleeker design, which allows for greater space for airflow or cooling systems
  • Busbars can connect at right angles, the space saved by using busbars because significant when compared to large bundles of cables required in many projects
  • Because of their modular design busbars can deal with changing energy loads far better than traditional cables
  • Although initial material/part costs may be higher for a busbar solution in the majority of cases the labour saving plus the saving over the lifetime of the materials (such as alterations) will more than recoup that initial outlay
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21 Aug 2015

Audi to Launch All Electric SUV

Audi’s all electric SUV is destined for production following its unveiling at the IAA 2015. The vehicle, which it is hoped will be in production in 2018 will have a range of 310 miles and is expected to be one of the stars at next month’s IAA in Frankfurt.

The Audi etron Quattro benefits from the expertise in developing the R8 etron and will be the brands first large series electric car.

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15 Aug 2015

England To Test Charge As You Go Electric Cars

We’ve written before about the electric car market, its development and how the battery life in some models of car have improved. However, the biggest barrier to people buying electric cars is still the battery life. It doesn’t matter how green the vehicle is or how good the tax benefits, the bottom line question that people need an answer to is ‘How far can I travel on a charge?’ And for many electric cars, that’s not very far. They are great for running around the city where you’re not doing many miles, but for longer road journeys, the fear of running out of power is still a huge barrier to buying an electric car.

There are many research projects going on around electric cars. Some trying to improve and extend the life of a battery charge, others like Highways England feasibility study looking at charging on the go. The result of which is the first UK trial at a testing site that will allow cars to charge on the go.

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7 Aug 2015

UK Engineering in Motorsport

Here at PRV we provide services to the motorsport industry and there’s no denying that there’s an insatiable appetite for all things motorsport in the UK. TV programmes and Formula 1 viewing figures back that up and the Formula E series was a big hit. But just how much does the engineering in motorsport impact the everyday road car development?

There will be some that say it doesn’t; F1 and race weekends are nothing but a chance for celebrity and excess to take the platform. However, that’s not the view of the motorsport Industry Association (MIA) or the automotive industry themselves, who say that the engineering innovations in motorsport have a significant impact on the wider industry.

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