New investment will support more than 1,800 skilled manufacturing jobs across the country says industry minister.
The UK’s automotive industry will benefit from nearly £130m of investment in a range of new cutting-edge net zero vehicle technologies. It’s a timely intervention, given the latest heatwave – and the ever more urgent impacts of human-made climate change.
Delivered through the government’s modern industrial strategy, the new money is match-funded by industry.
First, the government is awarding nearly £50m through the DRIVE35 programme to a range of auto firms and their key R&D partners to help them produce next generation zero vehicle technologies at scale. The aim is to make EVs cheaper to buy and so encourage take-up, while driving economic growth.
DRIVE35 is the largest government investment in the automotive sector since the Second World War, with £4bn to invested by 2035 to speed up electrification. £100m of DRIVE35 grant funding has already been made available to supply chain businesses in the North East and West Midlands as part of a targeted approach to support flagship companies in those regions such as Turntide Technologies and Bentley.
Secondly, £17m is being invested in nine successful connected and automated mobility (CAM) pathfinder projects, to help them develop, test and scale new tech.
On the government side, the funding is being made available through the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, and facilitated via the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) in partnership with Innovate UK. With industry match funding, the total investment is almost £130m.
Blair McDougall MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State jointly in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, says: ‘Britain invented the modern motor industry and we’re determined to ensure the next generation of vehicles are designed and built here too. This investment will secure skilled jobs, strengthen our manufacturing heartlands and help drive the reindustrialisation of Britain. Through our modern industrial strategy, we’re backing working people and British businesses to deliver growth in every part of the country .’
Ian Constance, Chief Executive at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, adds: ‘ The projects announced today demonstrate the depth of innovation and engineering excellence that exists across the UK automotive sector. Through DRIVE35, we are supporting businesses to move promising technologies to commercial deployment and manufacturing at scale.
‘This investment is about far more than individual projects. It is about strengthening the UK’s capability to design, develop and build the technologies that will define the vehicles of the future. By bringing together industry, government and academia, DRIVE35 is helping create the conditions for long-term growth, increasing investor confidence and reinforcing the UK’s position as one of the world’s leading destinations for automotive innovation.’
Photo by Photo by Troy Winther / Unsplash
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