photo from the ground lookng up at C-ALPS building with FEV and C-ALPs written on the side.

Centre for Advanced Low Carbon Propulsion Systems (C-ALPS)

About C-ALPS

Our £50m Centre for Advanced Low Carbon Propulsion Systems is a Coventry University research centre within the Centre for E-Mobilty and Clean Growth. C-ALPS brings together academic expertise and state-of-the-art facilities in battery & supercapacitor cells, hydrogen fuel cells, e-motors and drives. In this environment, researchers and industry work together on the science and engineering behind the next generation of electrified propulsion systems for the automotive, aerospace, marine and rail industries.

Global engineering consultancy FEV is a founding partner and its UK commercial operations are co-located in the C-ALPS facility. We are a partner in the Driving the Electric Revolution Industrial Centres Network beneficiaries of funding from the Faraday Institution through their fellowship programme. We also receive collaborative research project funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) sources, including The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Advanced Propulsion Centre, Aerospace Technology Institute, and well as funding through European Horizon and InnovateUK. We are active members of the Batteries European Partnership Association and Hydrogen Europe.

The C-ALPS team and FEV also work independently with customers, partners and other leading organisations within funded research projects. You can find out more by visiting our work with us page.


Facilities & capabilities

C-ALPS is the most advanced test facility of its kind in the UK. Our unique, 40,000 sq. ft research and test centre in Coventry is continually evolving and more than £20m of investment has been channelled into our world-class building.

Globally leading engineering consultancy, FEV, has its UK commercial operations co-located in the C-ALPS facility, offering partners a unique blend of academic and engineering support.

This is an independent facility and we are able to work with multiple OEMs, tier 1s and SMEs. If this is something you'd like to explore, please contact Simon Shepherd

 

close up of a pair of hands in bright purple gloves twisting dials in a lab setting

State-of-the-art battery test facilities

Our battery test lab is equipped with facilities and expertise to help partners characterise commercial and prototype cell & module performance to support verification, selection and modelling activities.

A scientist in a white lab coat and orange gloves using a blue cell prototyping machinectronic cable in orange gloves

Cell prototyping centre of excellence

Our unique cell prototyping facilities support the transition from laboratory discovery to mid TRL prototypes, helping pull new discoveries across the development ‘Valley of Death’ towards commercial reality.

person looking at semiconductor in a white room

Electronics lab and power-semiconductor characterisation facility

Our expertise in power semiconductors and semiconductor device performance supports our industrial partners with the development of high-efficiency & high power-density power converter systems; accelerating the adoption of wide band-gap devices & optimising performance through digital modelling.

close of of a black and green circuit board with an out of focus person inspecting it lab

Hydrogen research laboratory and vehicle workshops

A new, 100m2 hydrogen fuel-cell research lab was completed in 2021 for cell and short stack research and development including facilities for post-mortem analysis. Our on-site hydrogen storage facility has the capacity to house tube/trailer supporting 18kg/hr usage rate (300kW).

person in the corner of a dark room with a bright light coming out of cables

EMC chamber

Our new EMC chamber provides an environment where partners can work with our expertise and state of the art equipment to de-risk products and technologies, diagnosing early issues with power hardware.

photo inside a powertrain system test cells lab with lots of cables

e-Powertrain system research

At C-ALPS, we combine state-of-the-art powertrain test cells with expertise in power-electronics, motors and drives. Partners can utilise our facilities and experience to characterise and optimise their propulsion systems.

person opening transparent cabinet in a lab setting

Powertrain system test cells

FEV’s commercial operation facilities include over £6m of the latest electrified powertrain and thermodynamic engine testbed and test benches for turbochargers, catalytic converters and battery systems.

close up of a silver battery and a copper wire

Battery & supercapacitor cell sensing

Our research on cell sensing and advanced diagnostics includes developing cell materials and construction, validation methodologies, modelling and use in mission or safety-critical applications.


Our team

Name Title Email
Rohit Bhagat Centre Director rohit.bhagat@coventry.ac.uk
Petar Igic Professor petar.igic@coventry.ac.uk
Yue Guo Professor yue.guo@coventry.ac.uk
James Widmer Professor james.widmer@coventry.ac.uk
Alexander Roberts Professor alexander.roberts@coventry.ac.uk
Oliver Curnick Associate Professors olivier.curnick@coventry.ac.uk
Tazdin Amietszajew Associate Professors taz.amietszajew@coventry.ac.uk
Joe Fleming Assistant Professors joe.fleming@coventry.ac.uk
Soroush Faramehr Associate Professor soroush.faramehr@coventry.ac.uk
Cheng Zhang Assistant Professors cheng.zhang@coventry.ac.uk
Wissam Jamal Assistant Professors wissam.jamal@coventry.ac.uk
Rong Lan Post-Doc Research Fellows rong.lan@coventry.ac.uk
Vlad Marsic Post-Doc Research Fellows vlad.marsic@coventry.ac.uk
Vit Janik Associate Professors vit.janik@coventry.ac.uk
Tony Smith Laboratory Manager tony.smith@coventry.ac.uk
Agata Greszta Research Fellow agata.greszta@coventry.ac.uk
Leonor Rodriguez Esteves Research Delivery Support Partner ac3942@coventry.ac.uk
Lu Wang Assistant Professor ae1386@coventry.ac.uk
Ian Bates Principal Engineer ab0637@coventry.ac.uk

Haijun Ruan

Assistant Professor

ae1672@coventry.ac.uk

Hongmei Qi

KTP Associate ae2920@coventry.ac.uk

group shot of 20 people standing outside c-alps


Work with Us

The C-ALPS team and FEV also work independently with customers/partners and this has already led to engagement with a number of other leading organisations within funded research projects.

C-ALPS has a strong track record of working with business in a variety of ways including via the funded knowledge transfer programme, funded collaborative research and direct consultancy.

The centre has supported businesses by offering:

  • Applied research to support product development
  • Access to staff expertise and student skills
  • Support with funding applications

C-ALPS respects the need for client confidentiality and are therefore unable to comment on many of our specific projects. We would encourage interested parties to get in touch to discuss their requirements further.

  • Having successfully supervised a number of industry focused PhD projects for FEV, C-ALPS is now seeking proposals from other businesses in the e-mobility sector. You can tap into the world-class facilities and expertise available here at C-ALPS via a flexible approach towards funding with the aim of achieving the desired research outcomes.

  • C-ALPS is proud to be part of the KTP scheme, developing partnerships with regional and national businesses to increase their competitiveness, productivity and performance. This is a national programme, part-funded by Innovate UK, to help businesses improve their usage of knowledge, technology and skills. A KTP involves the recruitment of a graduate working on a unique and innovative project fully backed by university expertise.

  • The C-ALPS team also actively seek to participate in academic research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and other Engineering fellowship award schemes. Industry partners can play an integral role in these projects and gain significantly from its outputs with opportunity to steer the project directions.

    The Centre has extensive experience of funding applications for collaborative projects. Therefore please get in touch with C-ALPS for further details of the processes of the applications and writing bids.

  • C-ALPS is open to providing organisations deliverables through specific, industrially experienced staff members identified for their particular expertise against specific briefs from our clients. Key areas of expertise include:

    • Cell prototyping
    • Contact cell / module testing / characterisation
    • Cell instrumentation
    • Power device characterisation
    • EMC chamber testing
    • E-motor / drive testing

Events

Future Propulsion Conference- March 2023

The Future Propulsion Conference held at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull brings together industry and academic experts within the powertrain development field. 

The Centre for Advanced Low Carbon Propulsion Systems (C-ALPS) combines academic expertise and state-of-the-art facilities in battery & supercapacitor cells, hydrogen fuel cells, e-motors and drives. In this environment, researchers and industry work together on the science and engineering behind the next generation of electrified propulsion systems for the automotive, aerospace, marine and rail industries.

Low Carbon Vehicles- July 2022

The event focused on the two thematic areas of the Low Carbon Vehicle transition to Net Zero and the Automated Connected Electric and Shared future of mobility where Connected Automated Mobility, vehicle electrification and supporting infrastructure innovations combine.

Coventry University's research into Clean Growth and Future Mobility addresses these themes by delivering practical and relevant solutions. Our E-Mobility and Clean Growth, Future Transport and Cities, and Manufacturing and Materials research centres house leading experts who work closely with the academic community, industry partners and key government stakeholders to develop resolutions, deliver impact and inform policy.


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