The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, owners of Geely (a Chinese car brand), Volvo, and the London Taxi Company, is now the main sponsor and official automotive partner of the Bloodhound SSC land speed record project.
As the main sponsor and automotive partner, the group will support both the financials for the project, as well as technical support. In addition, they will act as an extension of Bloodhound SSC’s STEM in school’s promotion in China.
The man behind the Bloodhound SSC brand, Richard Noble is thrilled with the new partnership.
“We could not have a better partner than Geely: not only are they an international technology company with tremendous vision and capability, they share our passion for innovation and education. Their support, both technical and financial, means we can now plan next year’s record-breaking challenge with confidence. It also means we can take our STEM inspiration message to a vast new audience, which is great for science and engineering but also for promoting Great Britain,” said Noble, via Ars Technica.
Li Shufu, head of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is equally as excited.
“Since day one we have been committed to breaking technology barriers at Geely and working with Project BLOODHOUND will help further our mutual technology breakthrough to an international audience. It also means we can tell millions of young people, in China and around the world, about the opportunities presented by studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That is what makes this ‘Engineering Adventure’ so special and why we wanted to be part of it,” said Shufu.
As with many non-profits, fundraising is a major issue for Bloodhound SSC, as building and testing a vehicle capable of driving 1,000mph is very complex. In fact, many of the engineers and mechanics on the project had taken other short-term contracts more recently, while Noble and others went out to fundraise. This caused major delays in progress made in 2015, but now, thankfully, with the help of Geely, the Bloodhound SSC team now has the backing to concentrate on getting the vehicle ready for its first runs, which will take place on the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa in 2017.
And, in case you’re wondering, Jaguar will still be the supplier of the supercharged V8 that will be used as the fuel pump for Bloodhound’s NAMMO hybrid rocket engine.
