UK electric propulsion specialist EMPEL Systems has secured support through the DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund for EMPOWER, a major manufacturing scale-up project that will increase the company’s vertically integrated production capability for electric motors and power electronics in the UK.

The updated IEC 60034-30-1:2025 standard has introduced IE5 as a defined motor efficiency classification, giving manufacturers, engineers and end users a clearer benchmark for specifying high-efficiency motors.

According to Circle Economy, 93.1% of materials entering the global economy are drawn from virgin sources, and linear material use destroys an estimated €25.4 trillion in value annually – nearly 31% of global GDP. For industrial players, those figures point directly at the operational models most companies still depend on and the cost of leaving them unchanged, writes Erich Labuda, President, Motion Services Division, ABB.