Canada’s Innovation Supercluster Initiative promotes advanced manufacturing in a variety of fields through five national networks. One of these is NGen, an industry-led non-profit organization that leads the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster.
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Above: Tesla Model S using a public charger (Flickr: Robert Couse-Baker)
NGen recently announced a series of new innovation projects to support the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) manufacturing ecosystem in Canada.
In 2021, NGen launched a call for proposals to support R&D projects for ZEV manufacturing, systems, components, and batteries. Now the organization has announced 15 new industry-led consortia that will execute projects in various strategic areas.
To date, NGen has approved 166 projects with 374 industry partners, investing $236 million of Supercluster funds and leveraging $371 million in new R&D investments by industry. NGen says its investments have created 18 new companies, supported 45 new products and services, and generated $1.92 billion in revenue and licensing deals for partners.
“Global automakers have begun their journey to replace vehicles powered by internal combustion engines with zero-emission electric vehicles, but their transformation is far from complete,” said Jayson Myers, CEO of NGen. “Significant problems need to be solved in order to make the industry sustainable over the next ten years. The collaborative projects that NGen is supporting show how Canadian ingenuity can contribute solutions throughout the EV value chain and create new opportunities for businesses, investment, and job growth.”
“Investment in advanced manufacturing processes and technologies is the key to solving complex problems and ensuring that Canadian manufacturers are positioned to thrive in the EV value chains of the future,” said John Laughlin, CTO of NGen. “Collaboration and partnerships across the industry, as well as strategic support from the government, are working to successfully establish new EV value chains.”