Funding for low carbon automotive R&D

Five projects to develop new low carbon and energy efficient technology in the automotive sector have been awarded £75 million of joint government and industry funding to boost jobs and growth in the sector, Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, has announced.

The winning projects are expected to design new products and systems that will change technology used in the automotive sector from vans to high-end sports cars. They are:

• The London Taxi Corporation is embarking on a project to deliver a series of light-weight, zero-emission capable, range extended vehicles in a £46.5 million project
• Morgan Motor Company has been awarded a £6 million grant 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 has been awarded £5.4 million 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 £2.9 million grant to reduce the carbon footprint of electric forklift vehicles
• an innovative research project of £13.1 million led by Jaguar Land Rover which will build up the automotive turbocharger supply-chain in the UK

The funding has been awarded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre, a 10-year, £1 billion joint partnership between government and industry.