SPRINT POWER
Power
to the people
British technology startup, Sprint Power, which is helping
to lead the charge for the UK’s electric mobility revolution,
explains why investment is key and the future is wireless
WORDS: KARL VADASZFFY
a number of large OEMs including Jaguar Land Rover,
McLaren, and Aston Martin.”
Three years later, after a takeover of the company left
him with “nothing”, Frost moved to Detroit Electric as its
CTO, where for three years he expanded his knowledge
about the Chinese market and fundraising. He says that in
Asia “they don’t shy away from step-change technologies
and things that are high risk.”
Fund raising
Frost’s experience in China got him thinking about what
he might be able to achieve with some fresh investment
behind him. So, last October, with backing from three
Hong Kong investors and with his team from Frost EV
following him, Sprint Power was formed. A new
headquarters in Birmingham is large enough to house 200
engineers and is kitted out with high-voltage electronics
labs among lots of other appealing facilities. Frost aims for
it to become “a McLaren of the EV world, inspired by Silicon
Valley companies, where they have an engineering
playground-type atmosphere that’s fun and laid back, but
one that promotes innovative thinking and thinking
outside the box.”
Richie Frost was an engineer at the
UK’s Prodrive, taking the lead on
low-carbon, electric projects that he
describes as “very novel back then”.
“They were seen as futuristic,” he
says, “because that was before mass-produced
electric vehicles were even on the road.” It was
through these advanced projects that his
passion for EVs developed.
“I recognized early on that this had to
be the future,” he comments. “It was green
and it was zero emission, but it was a simpler
architecture, very modular, and I could see how
it could grow.”
This passion for electric cars led to the birth
of Frost EV, in 2010, a one-man consultancy in
the fi eld of engineering electronic systems for
low-carbon vehicles.
“I started working in out of my bedroom, but
things grew quickly,” remembers Frost.
“Within two years I had around 50 people
working for me, as well as a large facility in
Woodford, from where we were consulting for
122 // July 2019 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
/www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com