UK – Axle and brake supplier, Meritor has inaugurated and started operations at its new purpose-built test chamber for heavy-duty electric powertrains and drivetrain development at Meritor Electric Powertrain Systems UK Ltd, located at its brake manufacturing and global disc brake research facility in Cwmbran, UK.

Since the formation of the Electric Powertrain Integration for Commercial vehicles (EPIC) consortium in the second quarter of last year (see Truck & Bus Builder, May 2021), Meritor has been working towards setting up a new research and testing facility under its Blue Horizon brand name. The new facility is called the European Centre of Excellence for e-Mobility and is one of two centres created under the EPIC programme, the other being at the Editron facility in Edinburgh, UK; Editron is a subsidiary of Danfoss, which is another EPIC partner responsible for the electric motor and inverter. A third partner of the EPIC Project is medium-duty truck conversion specialist, Electra Commercial Vehicles Ltd in Blackburn, UK. The Meritor-led EPIC consortium successfully bid for development funding of 50% of approximately GBP32m (or GBP15.9m) that is being invested by Britain’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC); this is a 42-month funding programme for assisting and accelerating the development of a heavy-duty electrically powered drive axle.