Ken Scott, Chief Engineer on #WhyTevva

We recently sat down with Ken Scott, our Chief Engineer at Tevva, to discuss his career journey, his outlook on the company and its growth, and what excites him about working for Tevva.

A veteran in the automotive industry, Ken has spent 35 years working amongst some of the world’s top automobile companies, including Land Rover, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Alexander Dennis and Volkswagen.

But what attracted Ken to Tevva is that “the Tevva team is creating a brand, a product, and everything associated with it — and you don’t get many opportunities in your career to be instrumental in creating the future of transport. Most people in their career will join an existing organization, brand, product. This is rethinking everything that has come before, and that’s fantastic to be a part of.”

Therefore, when the opportunity came along to join Tevva, Ken felt it was a natural next step, to roll up his sleeves , bring his extensive experience and automotive expertise and ways of doing things, from major automotive companies over the years, and apply it to this new opportunity to work for a company dedicated to making a difference for our planet and curbing CO2 emissions from commercial vehicles.

“Transport decarbonisation is one of the key areas we need to tackle and the technology is ripe and ready to be applied,” he says.

When asked about the Tevva engineering team, Ken explains how the team is united by a common goal, which is to develop products that make a real difference in reducing CO2 emissions. The word ‘agile’ is the first word that comes to Ken’s mind when he thinks of the team he is building here at Tevva.

“There is a great combination of experienced people who get it and know how to do things, but also people who are new and young, coming with fresh ideas and ways of doing things. The reliance on software and an understanding of how to link things and make systems work together is far greater than it was at the early stages in my career. It’s more than just creating a stand-alone product at the end of the day, it’s about creating a truck product and its interaction in the wider urban ecosystem.”

In terms of Tevva’s growth, Ken explained how, given the passion and expertise of the team, a lot has been done so far as a small company, successfully bringing products to market. He says that what won him over when considering a move to Tevva was the overwhelming authenticity and realism at Tevva– with real products on the road, the real application of the technology, and the ongoing application of this learning to the next generation of products.

“It’s a lot of quick thinking, but the important thing is we are ready to learn from the products in the hands of customers and grow our ability to create even better products in the future as a result of it. It’s motivating and exciting to experience the level of investment and interest from customers, suppliers and partners coming in.”

This momentum, he presumes, will only grow from here, as the company and the technology continues to expand. In his lifetime, Ken believes that we will see much development in the areas of light-weighting material applications, charging speeds and battery and hydrogen technology, leading to more cost-effective, zero emission trucks on the road. In terms of this technology, Ken explains how vital range extension is to clean freight transport right now. “Battery technology has already developed quite far, but still has a long way to go. Range anxiety is what we have to overcome in the short to medium term” he says.

A firm believer in hydrogen fuel cell technology, Ken argues that “the opportunity for range extension enables us to combine various new technologies, and just like the grid itself, there is not going to be a single type of technology that enables us to get to NetZero by 2050. by combining BEV technology with hydrogen fuel cells for example, we are able to make fully practical, zero emission trucks part of that solution.”

A career at Tevva will put you at the centre of ground-breaking technology that will help change the future of freight. To be a part of the Tevva team means to be a part of the new era of clean freight transportation.

Go Tevva, #GoFurther.

For more information on job opportunities at Tevva, please visit tevva.com/careers, and email your CV to careers@tevva.com.