Leading a green revolution in off-highway transport with Supacat

Part-funded by the Government’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme, our engineering experts have been collaborating with Supacat, the British designer and developer of high mobility defence vehicles, to pioneer a hybrid electric-powered version of the All-Terrain Mobility Platform (the ATMP).

Throughout our journey, we’ve also assisted them in acquiring substantial extra income and a new technical capability that they have successfully applied to other products and projects.

The eATMP replaces its traditional diesel engine with six electric motors, one attached to each wheel, and can be configured for full electric or hybrid versions. This enables the vehicle to successfully operate in very harsh terrains. The new hybrid technology can also be applied in a range of industry sectors, including the emergency services, rail, marine, forestry and aerospace sectors, alongside defence.

The hybrid electric drive-train can be tailored and customised, depending on the mission, range, payload and operating environment. The vehicle can also act as a power hub for field hospitals or communication systems. And because the electric vehicle emits little noise or heat, it is stealthy when operating in volatile environments.

The project has already  won the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Award for ‘Best Impact and Transformation’ in 2022 .

Steve Austen, Engineering Director and Chief Engineer of SC Group, explained that “We have acquired and exchanged valuable knowledge, obtained substantial extra income throughout the project’s duration, and instilled strong confidence in securing consistent additional revenue for our company in this field in the coming years. This knowledge and expertise can be easily applied to our entire product line and into other organisations.”

New jobs have been created and two very talented engineers from the University, Matthew Harvey and Yash Katare, have joined SC Group.

The success of this project has generated a second to develop this innovative vehicle further so it can be ‘optionally crewed’. This innovation has enabled the vehicle to drive itself over highly complex terrains while the driver can conduct other tasks or place themselves in a safer location for more dangerous operations.

This new capability has also been successfully applied by SC Innovation to other products and projects in the SC Group.