Completed Materials & Manufacturing Engineering

SCIENZE (Supply Chain Innovation Engineering for Net ZEro)

Funder UKRI
Recipient organisation Mclaren Applied Technologies Limited
Funding £2.3M
Period May 2022 — Mar 2025

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

McLaren Applied’s 800-volt silicon carbide inverter—a key component for electric vehicle powertrains—is being redesigned for mass production at lower cost. The SCIENZE project brings together McLaren Applied, TT Electronics, Microchip, The Welding Institute, and Newcastle University to build a UK supply chain capable of manufacturing next-generation power electronics at volumes far beyond today’s capability. The problem is straightforward: high-performance inverters and power modules exist, but they remain too expensive to produce at the scale the automotive market demands. Without cheaper manufacturing, electric vehicles will stay pricier than they need to be. The project tackles this through novel assembly methods, advanced automation, and industrialisation of silicon carbide power modules. If successful, SCIENZE will lower the cost of electric drivetrains, making EVs more competitive with petrol cars. It also strengthens the UK’s manufacturing base for power electronics—components that quietly manage energy flow in everything from cars to grid infrastructure. The impact is not a flashy consumer gadget; it is a cheaper, more reliable backbone for electrification.

View original technical description
The SCIENZE (Supply Chain Innovation Engineering for Net Zero) Project aims to create a UK based supply chain that is capable of manufacturing the next generation of power electronic components at volumes higher than is currently feasible to do today. This will be achieved through a combination of novel assembly methods and investment in high levels of automation. The project is the natural successor to McLaren Applied's APC12 project ESCAPE, which will take McLaren Applied's 800V Silicon Carbide inverter and will ensure that the cost of manufacture is as low as possible to ensure competitiveness in the challenging and cost-conscious automotive market. To support this, TT Electronics will investigate and invest in advanced automation techniques that are focused on the manufacturing of power-electronics based products. Microchip will be industrialising their SiC based power modules, leveraging the significant inward investment that has already been made in this area. The Welding Institute and the Driving the Electric Revolution Centre based at Newcastle University will support all of these efforts with novel techniques for assembly and material joining aimed at cost reduction and increased manufacturing process efficiency.

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Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

TESiC-SuperJ - Trench Epitaxy for SiC Superjunctions: technology enabling low loss HVDC power electronics.
SOCRATES - SilicOn Carbide tRAnsistor Trench procEsS (SOCRATES)
HighScape - High efficiency, high power density, cost effective, scalable and modular power electronics and control solutions for electric vehicles
High efficiency, high power density, cost effective, scalable and modular power electronics and control solutions for electric vehicles
GaNTT - Gallium Nitride Trench-FET Development for Automotive Power Applications

Original classification

Collaborative R&D

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