£88m ring-fenced for zero emission vehicles including Royal Mail and NHS
The UK Government has confirmed support for 46 projects, collectively saving millions of tonnes of CO2.
Investment will total £88million, with £44.5million from Downing Street and a further £43.5million from the automotive industry. Funding is being awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre.
According to the Department for Business and Trade, the announcement is ‘an important vote of confidence’ for the motor vehicle sector. Schemes include eight APC Collaborative R&D projects, 11 Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator projects, 14 Technology Developer Accelerator Programme projects, and seven Automotive Transformation Fund Feasibility Study projects.
A further six Niche Vehicle Network initiatives will also receive financing. Two projects alone, led by Protean Electric and Gordon Murray Group, could cut carbon emissions by as much as 13million tonnes per year. Overall from all schemes combined would be significantly higher. 1,000 jobs are also expected to be created through the programmes.
‘Labour is committed to boosting the jewel in the crown of our manufacturing base – the automotive industry. Working in partnership with industry this funding will drive innovation and propel the development of next generation zero emission vehicle technologies,’ said Sarah Jones, Minister of State at both the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Business and Trade.
The news comes in the wake of the Faraday Institution’s report on 270,000 jobs being created through the necessary leap in UK battery capacity. The will need the equivalent of six new gigafactories to keep up with demand, and the current supply chain falls well short of this.
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