JAC ITALY DESIGN CENTER SRL

Their core work

JAC Italy Design Center is the European design and engineering arm of JAC Motors (a major Chinese automotive manufacturer), based near Turin — Italy's automotive capital. They specialize in electric vehicle design, powertrain engineering, and automotive electronics integration. Within H2020 projects, they contribute vehicle design expertise, EV component development, and real-world demonstration of electric vehicles ranging from light L-category vehicles to long-range passenger cars. Their work bridges Asian automotive manufacturing with European R&D on electrification and advanced drivetrain systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

JAC Italy's early H2020 involvement (2015–2018) centered on light electric vehicles and autonomous driving safety electronics, reflecting a broad entry into European EV research. From 2018 onward, their focus sharpened significantly toward power electronics, drivetrain components, and long-range EV capability — the hardware-intensive side of electrification. This shift from vehicle-level demonstration toward component-level engineering suggests a deepening technical role in the European EV supply chain.

Moving from whole-vehicle demonstration projects toward specialized EV drivetrain and power electronics R&D, positioning themselves as a component engineering partner rather than just a vehicle integrator.

How they like to work

JAC Italy operates exclusively as a consortium participant — they have never coordinated a project, which is typical for an industry design center contributing domain expertise rather than leading research agendas. They work in large consortia (104 unique partners across 5 projects, averaging ~20 partners per project), indicating comfort in complex, multi-stakeholder automotive R&D environments. Their consistent participation across multiple large transport projects suggests they are a reliable, low-friction industry partner valued for bringing real manufacturing context to research consortia.

Extensive European network spanning 104 unique partners across 18 countries, built through large automotive and transport research consortia. Their Turin base connects them to Italy's automotive ecosystem while their projects link them to major European OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and research institutions.

What sets them apart

JAC Italy Design Center offers a rare bridge between Asian automotive manufacturing scale and European EV research excellence. Located in Turin's automotive cluster, they bring real-world vehicle design and production perspective to R&D consortia — something pure research partners cannot offer. For consortium builders, they represent an industry partner with direct links to volume manufacturing, making them valuable for projects that need a path from lab to production.

Highlights from their portfolio

• STEVE
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 850,000) focused on real-world demonstration of smart L-category electric vehicles across diverse urban use cases.
• EVC1000
  Targeted the ambitious goal of 1000 km daily EV range through advanced in-wheel powertrain and electrified chassis control — directly addressing range anxiety at the component level.
• HiPERFORM
  Addressed next-generation wide-band-gap semiconductor power electronics for EV drivetrains — a critical enabler technology for more efficient and compact electric vehicles.