Revolutionary British-designed premium car audio technology with the potential to bring huge improvements to both on-the-move listening experiences and overall car efficiency is soon to be launched by a Midlands company that was spun out of Warwick University’s engineering department 20 years ago.
The company, Warwick Acoustics (WA), has headquarters at the MIRA Technology Park near Nuneaton and it bases its revolutionary business on the development of electrostatic speakers that are smaller, lighter, higher performing and easier to package than any existing conventional speakers for cars. In addition, WA – which also develops accompanying software for its systems – claims powerful advantages in sustainability for the trailblazing new products, due to be revealed in a prototype vehicle soon.
WA’s managing director is Mike Grant, who was drafted in by the company’s investors in 2015 to assess its potential. The firm had harboured its highly promising audio technology for about 10 years but done little to move towards production. Grant says his first job was “to decide if the company’s technology had a production future”. He soon recognised that although electrostatic speakers weren’t new in principle, WA’s unique ‘take’ on them made them especially suitable for cars and e-technology. He reckoned that with the right kind of development programme, they could become “classic disruptors” in a global market for around 500 million car-based speakers a year, currently worth around $8 billion (£5.9bn).
Denne historien er fra January 26, 2022-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 26, 2022-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE DRAMATIC ITALIAN THAT MARKED THE END OF AN ERA
When the Huracán bowed out, the curtain fell forever on Lambo's V10
HOW EV MAKERS CAN WIN THE RACE TO 5.0MPKWH
Manufacturers are honing every detail to close in on big efficiency goal
MASERATI MC20
We bid a sad farewell to a handsome supercar that was easy to live with
The quickening
Instant acceleration is part of the appeal of an EV, but is it all getting a bit much for unwary and inexperienced drivers? JOHN EVANS investigates
Inside track
Watching an F1 race with live access to engineers and telemetry is the stuff of dreams for racing fans. ALEX WOLSTENHOLME makes a day of it
WHOLE IN ONE
The Volkswagen Golf has been all things to all motorists for half a century. At the wheel of a classic Mk1, VICKY PARROTT charts the eight-generation history of one of the world's most successful cars
DACIA DUSTER
Mk3 model gains digital tech, ADAS, slicker looks... Is this mission creep?
MAZDA CX-80 PHEV
Another look at Mazda's hefty SUV, this time in plug-in hybrid form
VAUXHALL GRANDLAND ELECTRIC
Newcomer looks to ease the average family SUV driver into EV motoring
BMW X3 20 XDRIVE
Fourth generation of brand's best-seller arrives with base petrol engine