Skip to main content

Major funding for UK’s low carbon automotive technology

Five new innovative projects to develop new low carbon and energy efficient technology in the automotive sector have been awarded US$107 million of joint UK government and industry funding. The measure, which is set to boost jobs and growth in the sector, was announced today by Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, on a visit to the Morgan Motor Company. The funding has been awarded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre, a 10-year, US$1.4 billion joint partnership between Government and the automotive industry. T
January 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Five new innovative projects to develop new low carbon and energy efficient technology in the automotive sector have been awarded US$107 million of joint UK government and industry funding. The measure, which is set to boost jobs and growth in the sector, was announced today by Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, on a visit to the Morgan Motor Company.

The funding has been awarded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre, a 10-year, US$1.4 billion joint partnership between Government and the automotive industry. The latest round of funding is expected to create and protect 851 jobs and save more than 4.2 million tonnes of CO2, and it builds on the 10 low carbon projects already funded.

The five winning projects are expected to design new products and systems that will change the technology used in the automotive sector, and include companies working on technology from vans to high-end sports cars. The projects which will receive funds are: the London Taxi Corporation, for a project expected to deliver a series of light-weight, zero-emission capable, range extended vehicles; an innovative research project led by Jaguar Land Rover which will build up the automotive turbocharger supply-chain in the UK; Morgan Motor Company, to develop heavily down-sized, fuel efficient petrol engines coupled with the latest electrification technologies to produce hybrid sports cars and all-electric variants; a consortium led by AGM Batteries, for a project to develop the next generation of battery packs for high performance, low carbon vehicles; a consortium led by engineering firm Parker Hannifin has been awarded a grant to reduce the carbon footprint of electric forklift vehicles.

Announcing the funding, Javid said: “These new projects will cement the UK’s position as a leading global centre for low carbon innovation and manufacturing. Our fast-growing and diverse automotive industry has been especially successful at exporting high-value, high-technology vehicles all over the world, and our focus on next-generation innovation will ensure we can continue this progress and create even more high-skilled jobs.”

Between 2015 and 2020, the Government has committed to spending more than US$858 million to support the uptake and manufacturing of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) in the UK. This will ensure all cars and vans on the country’s roads will be effectively zero emission by 2050.

Related Content

  • All aboard Australia’s newest electric bus
    July 8, 2015
    Working in partnership with BusTech, Swinburne University of Technology has helped develop the first electric bus to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia. The first concept demonstrator bus was unveiled at the Maintenance Conference and Bus Expo in Melbourne. According to Pro vice-chancellor, International Research Engagement, Professor Ajay Kapoor, the research and development has involved solving the challenges of integrating electric vehicle technologies using computer-aided engi
  • New research finds huge sustainability benefits from new urban mobility models
    June 29, 2016
    New research by UK communications technology specialist BT and Frost & Sullivan finds that new urban mobility models such as ride-sharing, smart parking technologies and ride-on-demand could reduce the amount of cars needed on urban roads globally by up to 20 million vehicles per year in 2025, offering huge sustainability benefits and an improved experience for travellers. The research, Environmentally Sustainable Innovation in Automotive Manufacturing and Urban Mobility, suggests that consumer trends t
  • Truck platooning trials take to the highways
    July 24, 2017
    There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin
  • Truck platooning trials take to the highways
    July 24, 2017
    There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin