Alpine R&D Lab – a new entity within the Alpine Business Unit – is applying the group’s unique expertise to a variety of innovative projects, notably in the field of transport decarbonisation. BWT Alpine F1 Team Strategic Advisor Bob Bell describes the operation’s objectives and its technical collaboration with Aqualines, a French start-up behind a new generation of ultra-fast naviplanes conceived for low-carbon maritime shipping.
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Alpine, which is working on the electrification of its model range, knows that taking sustainable development forward calls for actual acts, not just talk. This stance led to the creation of Alpine R&D Lab in 2022 with a view to applying the brand’s technological know-how outside of the automobile industry in the form of collaborative work with innovative partners in fields ranging from sustainable mobility and advanced robotics to sport and health.
A dedicated Lab
Formerly Renault F1’s Technical Director at the time of its world titles in 2005 and 2006, Bob Bell today works as a Strategic Advisor at BWT Alpine F1 Team. His experience made him the ideal person to set up Alpine R&D Lab and initiate its first project with Aqualines, a start-up based in Bayonne, southwest France.
“The R&D Lab is multifaceted”, he begins by pointing out. “It consists of the facilities and resources we have here in the United Kingdom, at Enstone, but also touches on the facilities and resources in France, at Viry-Châtillon, where the Formula 1 engines are designed and developed, and even those used by the group to develop its sports cars.”