Inspired by the role of Tata Sons and its parent company, Tata Motors, Tata Motors Design Tech Centre has sought since its creation in 2005 to develop a foundation for good corporate governance, a sense of responsibility towards its employees and the communities that surround its workplace, both in India and in the UK, and a significant commitment to the environment, particularly in helping Tata Motors deliver its commitment to reducing pollution from its vehicles and addressing the challenge of climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

All of the Design Tech Centre’s current facilities are rented facilities where the main services of power, water, heating and recycling are the responsibility of the landlords from whom the facilities are rented. Consequently, the Tech Centre’s responsibility for the main factors affecting environmental sustainability is limited, but the Design Tech Centre supports all the environmental initiatives introduced by the landlords such as waste and paper recycling, energy saving etc.

Currently, the Design Tech Centre is actively involved in the specification and design of the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC), which it will share with Jaguar Land Rover and the University of Warwick from 2017, and this is being done with environmental sustainability at its core design.

Engineering and product development

The Design Tech Centre plays a significant role within Tata Motors R&D and product development programme to reduce the environmental impact of future vehicles. This is achieved by various projects aimed at the following

Fuel consumption and CO2 reduction improvements to current vehicle fleets, as they are upgraded and refreshed. Design and development measures include acting on the engine and transmission design, calibration, vehicle aerodynamics, tyre selection etc.

  • Use of alternative fuels with lower pollutant emissions, such as CNG and bio-fuels.
  • Vehicle hybridisation by combining Internal Combustion Engine (IC) and Electrical energy (EV).
  • R&D in future Low Carbon vehicle technology, which will include hybrids, full EVs, Fuel Cell technology.
  • R&D in energy storage and battery systems which will enable the adoption of technologies in hybrids and full EVs.
  • R&D in lightweight materials which enable the total vehicle weight to be reduced, hence resulting in lower fuel consumption.
  • R&D in vehicle design to improve vehicle aerodynamics and hence fuel consumption.

A number of the R&D projects for low carbon vehicle technology that the Design Tech Centre is engaged in are collaborative projects with UK Government or European funding support, such as Innovate UK, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), the newly created Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and the various Framework Programmes (e.g. FP7), where the Design Tech Centre is represented either at national or local levels.

Homologation

Homologation monitors a product's legal compliance throughout its development life from concept through to end of production. Keeping abreast of current and emerging legislation worldwide is vital and this is achieved at the Design Tech Centre through industry working bodies such as the SMMT, Euro NCAP and OICA.

Tata Motors Design Tech Centre compiles all legal documentation in conjunction with the relevant legal authorities, manages approval test programmes, market certification and ensures continued legal conformity throughout the vehicle's production life.

Environmental compliance

Ensuring product compliance to the wide ranging EU REACH regulations that cover the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restrictions on chemicals is of high importance to the Design Tech Centre.

Design for the EU vehicle 'end of life' (ELV) requirements, such as hazardous material control, recyclability and the provision of a 'take-back' network, is part of the Design Tech Centre’s jurisdiction. This includes the authoring and provision of vehicle treatment guides and the declaration of actual recycling data.

Tata Motors Design Tech Centre meets company and vehicle type approval requirements for recyclability, reusability and recoverability (RRR), which include the demonstration of controls over hazardous materials use and the calculation of recyclability rates.