Microcab Case Study

Microcab Industries has pioneered the design of lean weight hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, specifically designed to improve air quality, with zero emissions at point of use. They are extremely efficient, supporting the global sustainability agenda as resources become more scarce.

Aspire Engineering have been project partners with Microcab on two funded collaborations. In 2014, as MCT ETS Division, we provided our expertise to establishing a strategy to remanufacturing a Hydrogen Fuel Cell. The FCR (Fuel Cell Recovery) project supported the circular supply chaincall from Innovate UK and along with project partners Microcab, Env-Aqua Solutions and HSSMI (High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute) the two-year project saw the team demonstrate that the Hydrogen Fuel Cell used in the Microcab vehicle could be remanufactured for reuse. The success of the project supports the End of Vehicle Life Directive and would assist in retaining high value cost of the product for Microcab when required.

One of the Microcab vehicles shown here on the left was exhibited very recently at the 2017 Frankfurt Automotive Show.

In 2016, Aspire again partnered Microcab on the inaugural NVN / APC (Niche Vehicle Network / Advanced Propulsion Centre) funded project which saw the Ashwoods Dual Axial Flux Motor, assembled at the Aspire Engineering manufacturing facility, integrated in to the Microcab vehicle as shown below.

The DISCUS (Drivetrain Integration Supply Chain Upscaling and Streamlining) project had an additional objective along with the integration of the E-Motor. Working with project partners, HSSMI and Aston University, Aspire and Microcab supported the development of a SCRL (Supply Chain Readiness Level) tool. This tool is designed to complement the TRL and MRL (Technology and Manufacturing Readiness Levels) tools that are used widely in the Automotive sector when developing new innovative products such as the Microcab lightweight fuel cell vehicle.

Aspire continue to support the development of Microcab as they move towards increased production output.

More information on Hydrogen Electric Fuel Cell vehicles can be found at the Microcab Website.