Low carbon motoring receives £91 million Government funding package
Four net-zero motoring projects have received a combined £91.7 million of Government funding to accelerate the decarbonisation of vehicles.
The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) announced the funding that will be distributed to four innovative projects that are aiming to tackle range anxiety and find solutions to decarbonise commercial and heavy-duty transport.
Together the four projects are estimated to prevent nearly 32 million tonnes CO₂, which is equivalent to the lifetime tailpipe emissions of 1.3 million cars and will help safeguard or create over 2,700 jobs.
The four projects that have received the funding are BMW-UK-BEV, Project CELERITAS, the BRUNEL project, and REEcorner.
The breakdown of the funding will see £41.2 million given to a project led by REE to develop and manufacture their REEcorner technology which packs critical vehicle components into a single compact module located between the chassis and the wheel, enabling fully-flat EV platforms to meet the growing needs for efficient commercial electric vehicles.
A further £26.2 million of joint industry and government funding has been committed to a project led by BMW Group to develop an electric battery in Oxford that will rival the range of internal combustion engines.
A project led by Cummins to develop a novel zero-carbon, hydrogen-fuelled engine in Darlington, to help decarbonise heavy-duty commercial transport will receive £14.6 million.
Finally, £9.7 million will be committed into a project led by Sprint Power in Birmingham to create ultra-fast charging batteries for electric and fuel cell hybrid vehicles that can charge in as little as 12 minutes.
Ian Constance, chief executive at the APC said: “These projects tackle some really important challenges in the journey to net-zero road transport. They address range anxiety and cost which can be barriers to people making the switch to electric vehicles and they also provide potential solutions to the challenge of how we decarbonise public transport and the movement of goods.
“By investing in this innovation we’re taking these technologies closer to the point where they are commercially viable, which will strengthen the UK’s automotive supply chain, safeguard or create jobs and reduce harmful greenhouse emissions.”
Minister for Investment Lord Grimstone added: “By investing tens of millions in the technology needed to decarbonise our roads, not only are we working hard to end our contribution to climate change, but also ensuring our automotive sector has a competitive future that will secure thousands of highly-skilled jobs.
“Seizing the opportunities that arise from the global green automotive revolution is central to our plans to build back greener, and these winning projects will help make the widespread application and adoption of cutting-edge, clean automotive technology a reality.”
