Support has been confirmed for 46 projects, including electric vehicles for the NHS and Royal Mail, e-motorcycles and wireless charge points.
In total, around half of the money will come from the public purse, with the remainder invested by the private motor vehicle sector. The announcement is being taken as a vote of confidence in the UK industry, and will catalyse work to make supply chains more robust.
Financed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK’s Collaborative R&D competition, two projects — respectively with Protean Electric and Gordon Murray Group — are worth one-quarter of the total budget. These focus on the development of an ultra-lightweight vehicle platform, and new power products.
The £22.5million ring-fenced for these schemes includes a central government grant of £11million. Around 1,000 jobs would be safeguarded, and an expected 13million tonnes of CO2 saved from entering the atmosphere as a result.
‘From Royal Mail trucks delivering our post, to cleaner, greener bus journeys, this funding will back projects that will lower emissions across the country, while also supporting skilled jobs,’ said Sarah Jones, Minister for Industry and Decarbonisation. ‘Working in partnership with industry this funding will drive innovation and propel the development of next generation zero-emission vehicle technologies.’
While the news has been broadly welcomed by industry, a Business and Trade Committee warning published earlier this year suggested gaps in UK policy placed around 160,000 jobs at risk in an already beleaguered automotive sector. And, while in power, the Conservative Party were asked to provide more clarity on plans to decarbonise transport by investors managing assets worth £19trillion globally. So far no significant information has been forthcoming, even with the change of government.
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