WILLIAMS ADVANCED ENGINEERING
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2019 // 91
“Resources are not all used
100% of the time for Formula
One so we decided to sell that into
other motorsport series and road cars”
Paul McNamara, chief technical offi cer, Williams Advanced Engineering
How did creating products for nonautomotive
sectors come about?
In 2014, we had about 70-80 people
– a relatively small workforce with two projects
heading in the direction of electrifi cation.
Situated next to the Formula One team, there
are state-of-the-art engineering facilities such
as a factory, machine shop, composite shop, 3D
printers, two wind tunnels, and car simulators.
These resources are not all used 100% of the
time for Formula One so we decided to sell
that into other motorsport series and road cars,
as well as defense and civil aerospace and
health products. Electrifi cation, combined
with work with lightweighting, as well as
delivering the Formula E battery for the fi rst
four seasons all came together to help us keep
expanding and take on new projects.
What challenges did you encounter
working in Formula E?
We took on the challenge very quickly as the
original battery supplier had dropped out and
had to get the series going and in less than a
year. For that fi rst series the shape of the car
was predefi ned, so we had a space where we
had to fi t everything in. Innovations had to
come up along the way, particularly with
the cooling systems. We learnt a lot from the
fi rst season, then we did a signifi cant refresh the next
season as we had a continual problem with cells getting
hot. We kept the batteries maintainable so we could strip
out components at the racetrack, which is unique for
a conventional battery. We also learnt a lot about materials
and vibration. Also, taking the forty batteries to and from
Formula E races for four years taught us things we would
have never of thought of.
Talking of batteries, what innovations
and trends do you think will rise in the
next few years?
There are people at WAE looking into new technologies
such as lithium-sulphur, solid state, as well as engaging
with universities to explore early feasibility pilots of them
and we try to put those opportunities into motorsport as
soon as we can. However, the trend we are looking into is
an 18650 to 21700 cylindrical cell move happening at the
moment. The 21700s off er us some advantages in how you
cool, retain and build them into a pack, and more fl exibility
than on the pouch cells. The way the industry is, I think
we’ll see periods of innovation giving improvements of
around 5% a year, then a step change come in.
Take the internal combustion engine as an example. It’s
been around since 1895 in exactly the same tech as it is in
1. Williams Advanced
Engineering was pivotal
in getting Formula E
launched and continues
to work alongside the
Jaguar team
2. The propulsion system
for Aston Martin’s fi rst EV,
the Rapide E, was
engineered by WAE
3. The FW-EVX electric
vehicle platform concept
combines key systems
such as battery and
cooling in a lightweight,
compact chassis
4. WAE’s headquarters
is situated in Grove, UK,
next to the Williams F1
team facilities
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