Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick and Eatron Technologies have received funding through the UK Government’s latest DRIVE35 Demonstrate competition to accelerate zero-emission vehicle innovation.
Delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK, the DRIVE35 programme delivers £4 billion of grant funding to 2035 for automotive research and development, scale-up, and transformation.
ZENBMS (Zonal-End Node Battery Management System), one of ten projects chosen to receive £9 million of UK Government funding, and will bring together WMG’s expertise in electrified vehicle safety with Eatron Technologies and Infineon Technologies to develop an innovative 48V Battery Management System (BMS) designed for emerging low-voltage electrified applications.
ZENBMS will deliver a highly integrated 48V Battery Management System combining Infineon’s next-generation BMS chipset with Eatron’s embedded Battery Optimisation Software, reducing system complexity and cost while maintaining the safety and reliability demanded by modern electrified vehicles.
The project will also support the transition towards zonal vehicle architectures, which reduce the number of controllers in a vehicle, helping simplify vehicle electronics, reduce wiring complexity, and enable more scalable vehicle platforms.
ZENBMS builds on WMG’s long-term collaboration with Eatron, bringing together semiconductor, software, and academic expertise to anchor next-generation battery management technology in the UK.
Eatron and WMG have been collaborators since 2018, successfully delivering the COBRA and VIPER projects. Building on this partnership, ZENBMS aims to advance the technology from concept stage to a validated B-sample demonstrator (TRL 5), creating a commercially viable platform for a broad range of 48V mobility applications.
Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of the Safe Autonomy Research Group at WMG, said:
“We are delighted to be partnering with Eatron Technologies and Infineon Technologies in the ZENBMS project. Zonal architectures can lead to emergent risks and warrant novel safety analysis approaches to manage them.
“WMG’s role focuses on safety analysis for the innovative Battery Management System (BMS), generating an evidence base for compliance with international standards, leveraging methodologies like STPA and Assurance 2.0.
“Being able to translate safety methodologies from our research in automated driving to electric vehicles and BMS is particularly exciting for us.”
Umut Genc, CEO of Eatron Technologies, said:
“Being selected for DRIVE35 funding is a significant milestone for Eatron and a strong endorsement of our vision for the future of intelligent battery management.
“Through ZENBMS, we are bringing together Eatron’s expertise in AI-powered battery management, Infineon’s advanced semiconductor technology and WMG’s world-leading research capabilities to create a scalable platform that can accelerate the adoption of zero-emission mobility.”
Ian Constance, Chief Executive at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, said:
“This investment is about far more than individual projects.”
“It is about strengthening the UK’s capability to design, develop and build the technologies that will define the vehicles of the future. By bringing together industry, government and academia, DRIVE35 is helping create the conditions for long-term growth, increasing investor confidence and reinforcing the UK’s position as one of the world’s leading destinations for automotive innovation.”
