Funding of £89m to develop EV technology

Some £89m of funding has been awarded by the government to 20 net zero tech projects to develop zero emissions vehicle technology.

The funding package includes four collaborative R&D projects, five scale-up projects to assess if businesses in the automotive sector are ready for growth, and seven feasibility studies to prepare projects to develop large-scale manufacturing facilities in the UK.

The funding has been awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) to build an end-to-end supply chain for zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) in the UK. £45.2m of this investment comes from government, backed by a further £42.7m from the automotive industry.

Winners of the competition funding include Aston Martin, who are accelerating the development of a luxury battery electric vehicle platform and Perkins, who will develop a net-zero, hydrogen-hybrid integrated power system for off-road vehicles.

The projects are estimated to create or safeguard 4,700 jobs and save nearly 65 million tonnes of CO2 being emitted over the next decade.

£11.3 million has also been awarded to 12 UK-based projects funded through the second instalment of the SuRV (Scale-up Readiness Validation) competition and the fourth round of the APC’s Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) feasibility studies competition.

The ATF’s Scale-up Readiness Validation (SuRV) projects will support scale-up projects to assess if businesses in the UK automotive supply chain are ready for growth and expansion.

Projects include Green Lithium who plan to build a lithium scale-up plant in Teesside, and Ilika Technologies who are working to accelerate the scale-up of Ilika’s solid state battery technology.

Also announced were the winners of the Niche Vehicle Network (NVN) Production Readiness Competition, sponsored by the APC and supported by Innovate UK, provides grant funding to UK SMEs leading the way in sustainable, cutting-edge technology design.

A total of £1.1m in grant funding was awarded to four projects, including a zero emission Ariel Nomad – a low volume performance off-road vehicle – featuring a highly optimised EV powertrain, and also a UK-made electric scooter from Swifty Scooters, which is optimised for superior rider safety and ensures a long product lifespan.

Minister for Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani said: “This latest announcement includes a diverse set of OEMs and suppliers that demonstrate the strength of UK automotive. They will further add to our portfolio of innovative projects and continue to drive the UK to deliver on its net zero ambition.”

APC Chief Executive Ian Constance said: “This latest announcement includes a diverse set of OEMs and suppliers that demonstrate the strength of UK automotive. They will further add to our portfolio of innovative projects and continue to drive the UK to deliver on its net zero ambition.”

Image from Shutterstock

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