John Baron Visits Controlled Power Technologies

John Baron MP recently joined Ali Naini chairman and Nick Pascoe CEO of Controlled Power Technologies to look at the company’s automotive design, test and development facilities at its headquarters based at Laindon in Essex.

CPT has developed a portfolio of products for automotive vehicle CO2 and NOx emission reduction based on advanced switched-reluctance motor-generator technology, which is also aimed at improving fuel economy through low voltage electrification of the driveline required for a new generation of 48V mild hybrid vehicles.

“I was very impressed with both the company’s market-leading products and its potential,” said Baron, commenting on the company, which currently employs 55 staff and expects to grow further quickly.  “The world is knocking at its door.  Now the job is to ensure the finance is in place to realise this potential.”

John Baron visited CPT at the invitation of George Kieffer, chairman of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which is the biggest LEP in the country outside London, and covers East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock.

“This is the type of research intensive company that we need not only in the South East, but in the UK,” said Kieffer.  “One product has already been spun out to a French Tier 1 automotive supplier, which has opened a facility in Basildon.  I am excited by the project to start low volume production of this innovative proven technology.”

“Road transport is one of the largest sources of man-made emissions,” said Naini, commenting on the company’s products, which emulate F1 technology, in terms of their electrical torque assist as well as kinetic and thermal energy recovery capabilities, but at safe low voltages more suitable for road vehicles.

“Investment in long term solutions such as electric vehicles powered by non-fossil fuel generated electricity is progressing.  However, until they are widely and affordably available, hybrid cars provide a transitional way forward.  We have now demonstrated that our mild hybrid technologies for making conventional cars more efficient can do the job of full hybrids, but for a fraction of the cost.”

“Carmakers tell us that they want our product as soon as we can manufacture at high volume.  We are proud of the world class multi-discipline engineering team that we have built up in our UK-based development centres, and look forward to making further investments into the business to get our products onto the road.”

“CPT is a highly attractive UK based company for investors seeking low carbon technologies with an experienced team to commercialise them and high growth potential,” says Pascoe.  “While mild hybrid vehicle technology is seen as transitional for the medium term this will be the case for some considerable time – probably 20 years or more.”

Originating from Ford Visteon, CPT is a private company founded in 2007, successfully supported by venture capitalists.  The first product to be commercialised by CPT was sold to Valeo in 2011 for £30 million.  Subsequent funding from existing and new investors has continued to provide support for the development of its mild hybrid products, which are at a high level of technology and commercial readiness.

About Controlled Power Technologies

CPT is an independent, clean-tech, company, based at Laindon in Essex and in Coventry in the West Midlands with subsidiaries in Germany and the USA.   It specialises in the development of cost-effective CO2 reduction measures for the global automotive industry that avoid major redesign of the powertrain or vehicle electrical system.  Its core competencies include low voltage power electronics, advanced control software and the application of low voltage switched-reluctance machines (SRMs) to gasoline and diesel powertrains – providing innovative mild hybrid vehicle solutions.

The business was established in 2007 to acquire Visteon’s advanced powertrain business.  With asset and technology acquisitions from Visteon, and the signing of associated licensing and collaboration agreements with Switched Reluctance Drives Limited, now part of Nidec Corporation, CPT gained immediate access to a portfolio of near-term solutions to the problem of automotive CO2 and NOx reduction – and has since developed the technology to a high level of application and manufacturing readiness.

Following the successful sale of its VTES electric supercharger business to Valeo for applications in cars and vans up to 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight, CPT is now focused on bringing its liquid-cooled Cobra, SpeedStart, SpeedTorq and Tigers technology to mass market readiness.

Based on the same core SRM architecture, Cobra is a high speed (70,000rpm) motor for electric supercharger applications which shares the same platform as the Tigers high speed (70,000rpm) high temperature tolerant generator for the recovery of thermal and kinetic energy from fast flowing exhaust gases.  SpeedTorq is a 20,000rpm SRM designed for low voltage (<60V) mild hybrid applications in the driveline, thereby complementing the SpeedStart engine mounted starter generator.   While Cobra is focused on trucks and buses, SpeedStart, Tigers, and SpeedTorq applications are aimed at a wide variety of cars and commercial vehicles.

Today, CPT retains an experienced multi-disciplined team of high calibre professional engineers, all with share options in the company, and is backed by a number of prominent investors specialising in the energy and environmental sectors including Conduit Ventures, Entrepreneurs Fund, Low Carbon Innovation Fund, Mowinckel Management, National Technology Enterprises Company, Reformer Group, Target Ventures, and Turquoise Capital.

Further information on CPT is available at www.cpowert.com.

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