A Norfolk electric vehicle technology company that designs electric motors, e-axles and bus chassis.
Equipmake designs and builds electric motors and drive systems for vehicles. Its products include the Ampere-220 e-axle for sports cars, which combines a 3D-printed motor, a silicon carbide inverter and a gearbox in a light unit, and an electric bus chassis built in-house. It also offers a Zero Emission Drive that repowers existing buses and coaches with electric power, so old vehicles can keep running without diesel.
The company was founded in 1997 by Ian Foley, an engineer who had worked in motorsport at Lotus Engineering, Benetton Formula and Lotus F1. It began with a gearbox for endurance racing and later moved into electric motors and flywheels, then into commercial vehicles. Its mission page says it aims "to create sustainable integrated electric drivetrain solutions" that make e-mobility safer, faster, more efficient, more reliable and affordable. Its engineers say they can take a project from specification through modelling, simulation, design, prototyping and testing to production. Foley says the company "has always been at the forefront of innovation in electric motors".
Equipmake is headquartered at Snetterton Business Park in Norfolk, where it moved in December 2019 from Hethel. The site was designed for its bus chassis work. A Wikipedia profile gives about 60 employees, and says headcount grew from 15 to 52 between 2017 and 2019. Customers and collaborators have included First York, Metroline, Go-Ahead London, Westway Coaches, Big Bus Tours, Ariel and Williams Racing, and it has built electric buses with partners abroad. Its website lists customer areas including buses, aerospace, airport ground support equipment, heavy construction equipment and mining and quarry equipment.
The company's roots in motorsport suggest a culture of fast engineering and testing, though this is our reading and not a statement from Equipmake. We did not find a culture page. Its e-axle is described as meeting ISO 26262 safety standards, which shows how seriously it takes safe design.
Roles in a company like this include electrical, mechanical, software and power-electronics engineers, test engineers, production and quality staff, supply chain, and commercial teams. The pages we read did not give a current headcount, so check recent news for the latest picture.
Website: equipmake.com
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