Viritech joins technology elite with APC TDAP Award
Monday 18 July, 2022
● Viritech is one of 13 companies selected to join the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC)’s Technology Developer Accelerator Programme (TDAP).
● TDAP is the world-leading programme to transition the UK’s automotive industry to net-zero.
● The TDAP grant will help productionise Tri-Volt™ – a revolutionary approach to managing the hydrogen fuel cell powertrain.
● Tri-Volt™ enables high performance hydrogen fuel cell powertrains – the first zero emission vehicle (ZEV) powertrain that allows mass parity with existing internal combustion vehicles
Viritech is proud to have been selected as one of the 13 companies to join the UK’s most prestigious automotive technology accelerator programme. TDAP is specifically for SMEs with outstanding new automotive technology.
Competition to join TDAP is intense. Viritech has been selected thanks to its technology that transforms the attractiveness of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
Many FCEVs especially in heavy goods vehicles (HGV) applications use fuel cells as range-extenders, in which the fuel cell is simply used as a generator to charge the batteries. Tri-Volt™ creates a dynamic energy system enabling a constantly variable energy split between the battery and the fuel-cell. Both power sources can be run individually or in combination. When operating in combination, each source can provide any proportion of the total energy requirement. The secret of Tri-Volt™ is its ability to both switch between energy sources, and vary the total amount of energy, in milliseconds.
Tri-Volt™ also enables the use of smaller batteries with less weight and fewer scarce raw materials. These fast discharge/fast recharge batteries provide higher levels of regenerative braking, further boosting overall efficiency.
The net result is a powertrain with lightweight, high-performance batteries and a more efficient use of hydrogen. The benefit is a ZEV supercar with the weight of a petrol equivalent, and a ZEV truck with the same payload as a conventional diesel.
Viritech is already running development mules for the powertrain which will be fitted to the stunning Apricale® hypercar in 2023. Apricale will be half the weight of equivalent battery electric vehicle (BEV) hypercars, opening up a new world that combines the agility of a conventional hypercar with the power deployment of a BEV, supporting the transition to decarbonised transport solutions.
The benefits for commercial vehicles are even more compelling: a Viritech powertrain will weigh no more than an equivalent diesel powertrain. This will solve the key problem with BEV HGVs: the weight of the batteries, which could reduce the payload of a 44-tonne truck by up to five tonnes. The Viritech approach enables fleet operators to meet their two key objectives: maintain productivity, while eliminating tailpipe CO2 emissions.
Timothy Lyons, Co-Founder and CEO of Viritech said, “TDAP will enable us to accelerate our progress towards productionising our revolutionary powertrains, and fulfil our vision of ‘Zero emissions with no compromises’. Achieving weight parity with petrol and diesel vehicles will hugely speed up the adoption of ZEVs, to the benefit of all.”