The STEM Awards 2020 Automotive Technology Challenge


The STEM Awards 2020 Automotive Technology Challenge

Oliver Pickup hears why McLaren wants applicants to focus on how to reduce CO2 emissions using information technology

The race for electric road vehicles has accelerated in recent years and pioneering British supercar manufacturer McLaren Automotive continues to lead the pack.

Demand is surging: the latest statistics, published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, show that at the end of August there were more than 227,000 new registrations of plug-in cars in the UK, a huge increase from just 3,500 in 2013.

It is always exciting to see the passion, energy and creativity of entrants in the STEM awards

A business-critical factor for manufacturers is the requirement to meet stricter carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions targets. Under EU regulations, carmakers must cut their average fleet emissions to less than 95g of CO2 per km by 2021, or face punitive financial penalties: a €95 (£85) fine for every gram of CO2 exceeding the target, multiplied by the number of cars sold that year. In 2016, the average emissions’ level of a new car was 118.1g of CO2/km, so that is more than £10,000 per car.

“Ultimately, the mandated goals around CO2 reduction are driving this big shift to electrification,” says Geoff Grose, McLaren’s chief engineer of the Sports Series. “Because of the huge amount of innovation happening across the automotive industry in this area, there is a great opportunity to develop solutions for McLaren.

“I wanted the STEM Awards’ future mobility challenge to encourage applicants to explore the possibilities of electrification, specifically for our powertrains [the mechanism that transmits drive from engine to axle].”

Leading the way: there is a great opportunity to develop innovative solutions for McLaren

Grose, who has been with the supercar brand since 2006, adds: “At McLaren we are working towards hybrid powertrains that combine gasoline and electrification. Effectively we are trying to join two different engines in the vehicle, and there are significant challenges to achieving that.

“We have to think about how the two elements will work together to benefit one other. Examples include the way we recover energy from a gasoline engine to store it in a battery, or how we deliver additional torque from an electric engine to manage the renascent response of a gasoline engine. On top of that it is always a battle to save weight from our vehicles, but reducing weight is a virtuous way of boosting performance.”

Grose says that this year’s winner could see their entry incorporated in McLaren’s next hybrid supercar. “That would be a great outcome,” he says. “In this competition it is always exciting to see the passion, energy and creativity of entrants.”

Candidates might even forge a career at McLaren, as 2018 category winner Sam Legge, who is on a lengthy placement with the company, is doing. “STEM subjects are the lifeblood of manufacturing and absolutely vital for us at McLaren,” says Grose.

Enter the STEM Awards 2020

The Telegraph STEM Awards offer undergraduates the chance to prove their talent to some of the biggest names in industry.

Take a look at the challenges from our industry sponsors and submit an idea to solve one of them. If your idea is chosen as the winner, you could win a career-defining work-experience programme and £25,000. 

To enter the 2020 Telegraph STEM Awards visit tgr.ph/enterstemawards




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