Sevcon is to move into a larger, 55ft2 state-of-the art premises in Team Valley, Gateshead in the UK, less than 200 yards from the company’s existing premises on Kingsway. This will create 200 new jobs by 2019 – boosting staff numbers from 100 to 300 in the next three years – and will also free up the company’s existing premises for further development.
Sevcon designs and manufactures high and low-voltage controllers, AC/DC and DC/DC inverters, battery chargers and additional accessories. With its acquisition of Italian firm Bassi in early 2016 it now also supplies a range of battery chargers.
Matt Boyle, president and CEO at Sevcon, said, “Some come to Sevcon to de-risk an electrification project when they have insufficient in-house experience, others to speed up the development and manufacture.
“We are at the forefront of the technological race to integrate the electric drivetrain and our world-leading technology has helped us deliver a contract pipeline of £320m (US$339m).”
Sevcon is investing heavily in new offices and testing facilities, which it hopes to be up-and-running by summer 2017.
Boyle added, “We had outgrown our existing premises, where we have been based for over 50 years, and were keen to stay on the Team Valley as it is an ideal location, with good transport links.”
The two-storey facility will be used for office space and software development, while a single storey annex will be used to build prototypes for testing.
The proposed development will increase parking on the site from 34 spaces to 96, including four disabled spaces, seven visitor spaces and six electrical charging points.
Sevcon launched its new GEN5 controller in late 2015, a range of high-voltage, high-power AC motor controllers some of which are designed specifically for high-performance on road applications.
Sevcon group product manager, Stephen Chilton, noted, “People do not want to drive on the highway at 60mph in a vehicle using a modified forklift controller. Our technology is designed from the ground-up to ensure maximum functional safety in on road vehicle applications.
“The GEN 5 controller is available with ISO26262 ASIL C certification that assures the product contains the state-of-the-art functional safety demanded by on road vehicle manufacturers.”
March 21, 2017
