The total value of the licence fee and subsequent payments relating to the engineering development agreement is in excess of £7.0m (US$14 million), with more than half of this sum being payable during this financial year.

Under the terms of the licence agreement the client has secured the right to use Torotrak’s technology to develop and manufacture transmissions for worldwide sales in their vehicle range together with a period of exclusivity to develop Torotrak’s technology for use in the field of heavy commercial vehicles.

Under the engineering fevelopment agreement, Torotrak will undertake a “substantial” prototype engineering program for the client which will span a number of years, according to the company.

With these new agreements, we have taken a further, major step in the repositioning of Torotrak as a provider of toroidal transmission technology for a wide range of product and market applications. The successful implementation of our diversification strategy during the past three years has moved Torotrak a long way from its single focus and dependency on the automotive market.

—Dick Elsy, CEO Torotrak plc

Torotrak and Optare UK, one of Europe’s largest bus manufacturers, recently achieved a 19% improvement in fuel economy in an Optare Solo Bus by replacing the standard fit 5-speed automatic transmission with a prototype Infinitely Variable Transmission (IVT). Computer simulation of an optimized “production intent” IVT design demonstrates further efficiencies that increase the improvement in fuel economy to 23%. (Earlier post.)

Torotrak technology is part of the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) being developed by Flybrid for Formula One racing. (Earlier post.)