60 Second Spotlight on David Hudson, EV Product Manager - ePropelled
Ahead of the Net Zero Vehicle Powertrain Engineering Design and Development Technology Seminar taking place on 27 April at IAAPS we caught up with keynote speaker David to for his thoughts on the topic.
Please briefly explain your role, involvement and experience in the field of net zero powertrain technology.
I am responsible for developing and implementing the strategy of electric motor systems that ePropelled develops develop for ground vehicle application. This includes engaging with prospective customers for our motors and also collating information on the state of the technical and commercial markets.
What is the top challenge facing your industry at present?
All sectors involved with the race to Net Zero are having to prioritise energy efficiency in every detail of their systems solution. Although the early adoption of electric cars and vans into the premium segments has allowed us “buy” range through the use of larger battery capacity, we have to reverse this trend and make smarter use of the energy we have.
How would you say your industry has evolved over the past two years?
The past couple of years has seen a wide divergence in the ground vehicle industry, with a large influx of start-ups – some well-funded, others less so! – hoping to make gains against slow-moving incumbents. However, those incumbents in both OEM and Tier 1 space are becoming much more certain about their strategy and direction towards the net zero goals and are probably not ready to give any ground to newcomers!
What are the latest developments which may have an impact on future net zero powertrain technology?
All across the spectrum of e-mobility, we are seeing relentless progress on energy storage systems including moves towards higher voltages to allow very fast charging. This will bring both opportunities and challenges for the e-powertrain engineers who will need to ensure that products being delivered today are still of use in the future. There are also some exciting applications of connected data that will help to manage and optimise powertrain performance in real time.
What will you be presenting at the EIS Net Zero Vehicle Powertrain Engineering Design and Development in Technology seminar and how will this benefit participants?
After having the privilege to spend more than four decades in the mobility industry, many of them involved with powertrain topics, I have chosen to speak about some of the ways I believe we need to re-align our thinking and our tool sets to meet the challenges of born-again electric vehicles. I hope that I will bring some perspectives from this long view that can be taken up as challenges by the next generation of design and test engineers.