Proving Factory helps launch innovative automotive transmission, aiming for profit by 2018

Announcing a call for fresh investors, Evolute Drives said commercialisation of its high efficiency MSYS multispeed transmission system would mean the company was profitable by 2018.

New products from the firm could be available four years later, claimed managing director Alex Tylee-Birdsall. Evolute was spun out of Drive System Design (DSD), an established drivetrain technology specialist based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and Detroit, Michigan.

DSD transferred its involvement in The Proving Factory – which has sites in Rotherham and Coventry and is managed by Productiv – to Evolute Drives when the latter company was incorporated.

The Proving Factory opened its Coventry manufacturing site in February. It should help smaller automotive companies produce low-volume runs of parts, to bridge the so-called ‘valley of death’ that prevents them from becoming the mass-produced components made by tier one suppliers and OEMs.

Nick Rodgers, director of The Proving Factory said: “We have a long-standing relationship with Evolute and are delighted to be working with them to get their product into production.  Evolute’s MSYS technology is proven and will bring greater opportunities for electric vehicle manufacturers.”