Liverpool-based firm EV Range Extender has announced new tech which it hopes will cure ‘range anxiety’ in electric vehicles, creating 250 new jobs in the process.
The company, a subsidiary of local company Quinnovations, has developed the Microengine RangeX, which will give over 200,000 UK electric car drivers peace of mind against an empty battery, known as ‘range anxiety’.
The new business, set up by local entrepreneur Jonathan Quinn, is one of the latest companies to access support from LCR 4.0 and Liverpool John Moores University, a part-funded ERDF project for businesses in the Liverpool City Region.
It supported EV Range Extender in developing, fine-tuning and patenting its engine technology.
As part of the collaboration, EV Range Extender was provided with a dedicated LCR 4.0 team at the university, which worked with Quinn and his team to develop a solution for the burgeoning EV market.
The main aim was to develop a range extender that automatically starts-up and continuously charges an EV, solving the long-running problem of EV range on a single charge.
“As a business, we’ve come a long way, but this has certainly been accelerated as a result of our work with LCR 4.0 and its academic partner LJMU,” said Quinn.
“Since receiving the support, we’ve been able to hire new employees and refine and develop our longer-term business plan. In fact, we predict that by 2023 we’ll be able to employ around 250 staff.
“We’re even looking to incorporate autonomous robotic equipment as part of our longer-term growth plans which is extremely exciting when it comes to future production capabilities.”