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Williams wins Queens Award for Formula E battery innovation

Williams F1 might be struggling for speed in Grand Prix events, but there's no stopping Williams Advanced Engineering when it comes to the pace they're setting in battery technology innovation.

The company's work in successfully transferring battery technology they developed for Formula E into wider commercial applications had been recognised with a prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation.

"We are honoured to have been recognised by Her Majesty with this award for the industry-leading work of Williams Advanced Engineering in delivering a world-first that will light the way for future sustainable transport," said Craig Wilson, Managing Director of Williams Advanced Engineering.

"I pay tribute to our team that has powered Formula E from the beginning at such a high level of innovation, performance, service and reliability."

Williams Advanced Engineering's batteries have powered all the cars on the ABB FIA Formula E grid since its inception in 2014. Now in its fourth season, the series has seen a 99.8 per cent reliability record in the batteries provided by Williams.

But it's the way that knowledge attained by developing Formula E's batteries which is then passed on to other projects that has won Williams the award.

Williams Advanced Engineering has applied its learning to cell and module construction, optimised packaging and weight, battery management systems, cooling systems, vehicle efficiency, and safety structures.

As well as electric and hybrid road cars, the energy efficiency savings are transferable to different sectors. This expertise has led to significant business growth for the Company over the past three years.

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“Motorsport has traditionally been the test bed for new technologies, particularly in mobility and automotive applications,” Wilson said.

"This next generation of motorsport has already established itself as a technology innovator, with battery technology already feeding into many sectors and growing in importance.

"The battery has safety at its core. It is the first lithium ion battery to have passed stringent FIA crash testing regulations.

"It has also had to meet stringent air safety regulations in order to be transported around the world to support the global calendar of race events.

"Furthermore, each battery was required to last two full seasons, requiring exceptional reliability for such new technology in challenging racing environments.

"And they had to be produced in race ready condition in less than 12 months," he pointed out.

Aston Martin chose Williams Advanced Engineering as its technical partner for the manufacturer's first all-electric model, the RapidE. The two companies led a consortium that successfully bid for an Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Competition to create high performance and flexible battery supply capability in the UK.

Additional examples of the expertise include Airbus’s Zephyr, Netfficient and Williams Advanced Engineering’s own FW-EVX.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.