Sustainable Automotive Electrification MSc

Find out more about our Sustainable Automotive Electrification taught Master's degree at Warwick

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P-H1SG

MSc

1 year full-time

29 September 2025

WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group)

University of Warwick

Sustainable Automotive Electrification MSc is designed for engineering or other STEM graduates with an interest in automotive innovation. The course is ideally suited to those aspiring to become research managers and technology leaders within the strategically important areas of vehicle electrification and sustainability.

Through this course, you will develop the skills to design and evaluate the next generation of automotive products that have a lower environmental impact than conventional vehicles.  

Within the context of environmental legislation and consumer expectations for vehicle quality, reliability, and performance, you will learn to assess the different technology options and methods for design, system integration, and verification that will drive the market introduction of new energy efficient vehicles. Working within WMG’s state-of-the-art facilities, you will gain from the latest innovations in research and technology management that are prerequisite for career progression within the international automotive industry.

The course design mirrors the System Engineering V-cycle used for product development in industry and consists of four layers. Course participants begin working at Layer 1: Stakeholder Motivations (Global, legislative, customer etc.) and progress through Layer 2: Vehicle, and Layer 3: Systems, before studying at Layer 4: Component engineering. Alongside this progression, there are additional supporting modules covering industry tools and techniques applicable at all layers and to manage the design life-cycle itself.

WMG has an established legacy of leading automotive research in close collaboration with industry. Our Energy Innovation Centre (EIC) is a national facility for advanced battery research across the R&D process from materials and electrochemistry through to application integration and recycling. WMG is also home to the National Automotive Research Centre (NAIC), a key partnership between the University, Government and Industry.

This course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer. Candidates must hold a CEng accredited BEng/BSc (Hons) undergraduate first degree to comply with full CEng registration requirements.

This course has two components – a taught component accounting for two thirds of your time and effort, and a research component accounting for one-third.

For the taught component, we blend synchronous and asynchronous lectures with workshops, practical exercises, demonstrations, case studies, problem classes, syndicate exercises, and a review. aClass sizes are kept small with 20-30 students in each, to facilitate and encourage interaction.

Our module leaders have extensive industry experience. Guest speakers from industry also contribute regularly, bringing real-world insight into your learning experience.

In addition to your taught modules, you will undertake a major project as part of your Master's degree, which will develop your research and analytical skills and enable you to specialise. This is nominally 600 hours (60 CATS points) of learning, mainly taking place during the Spring and Summer terms. You will be expected to engage regularly with your Project Supervisor and to provide progress updates and drafts of your work to an agreed schedule.

This course can accommodate 24-48 students, in one or two groups of 24.

Module delivery patterns vary, but most will be delivered in a short learning block of up to 4 weeks, allowing your focus to be on one module at a time. Each module nominally accounts for 150 hours, which includes scheduled classroom time and online sessions as well as your independent study and assessments.

WMG runs a SPA module (Study, Professional and Analytical Skills) designed to meet the complex learning and professional needs of postgraduate students. This is a blended module delivered throughout the year alongside your modules. Whilst it is an unaccredited module for SAE students, your participation in the lectures, workshops and online sessions is strongly encouraged. There may be occasions where you will be required to attend evening or weekend sessions.

The course uses a variety of assessment methods across modules. These may include technical presentations, and labs, reports (both topic based and reflective), essays, critical evaluation case studies, simulations, online tests, and video presentations.

Assessments have been designed not only to assess your achievement in meeting the course learning outcomes in an academically sound manner, but also contribute to preparing you with the requisite competencies required for employment.

For the research component, you will undertake a major project. Leveraging the close partnerships that WMG has with key organisations within the automotive supply chain, it is envisaged that your project will have an industrial sponsor and be closely aligned with overcoming a real-world problem in the areas of vehicle electrification and sustainability. Many of the projects will feed directly into larger research programmes and will require you to liaise directly with senior academics, researchers, and industry partners.

Project submission is likely to include both a written and a presentation element, accounting for 33% of your overall academic grade.

Reading lists

If you would like to view reading lists for current or previous cohorts of students, most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library on the Talis Aspire platform. 

You can search for reading lists by module title, code or convenor. Please see the modules tab of this page or the module catalogue.  

Please note that some reading lists may have restricted access or be unavailable at certain times of year due to not yet being published. If you cannot access the reading list for a particular module, please check again later or contact the module’s host department. 

Your timetable

Core modules will be allocated to students at the end of the first week of term - you will then be able to view your individual module schedule for the rest of the year via the WMG module selection system.

Elective modules will be bookable through the same system later in the term.

Modules will include scheduled classroom time and online sessions as well as your independent study and assessments, and will usually be delivered within a 4 week timeframe. Occasional classes and study skills sessions may be held at weekends or in the evenings.

As a Master's student, you are expected to manage your own time appropriately. On average, you are expected to commit 38-40 hours of study each week, in order to successfully achieve your Master’s degree.

This is a full-time postgraduate course - undergraduate term dates do not apply. Whilst there are no holidays as such, there will be no teaching scheduled when the University is officially closed for staff, during the two weeks over Christmas and New Year.

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or Computer Science.

Candidates with a UK 2:2 (or equivalent) may be accepted upon demonstration of relevant professional experience

• Band A
• IELTS overall score of 6.5, minimum component scores not below 6.0

Candidates with professional experience should include their CV with their application.

Core modules are required modules that all students will complete whilst on this programme. For Sustainable Automotive Electrification (SAE), your core modules are:

Optional modules

Alongside your core modules you should select two additional elective modules. Options will be made available at the beginning of the academic year and will include modules such as:

Find out more about this course on the WMG websiteLink opens in a new window