GovWire

Government has today (14 October 2014) committed the first 11 million of funding available to accelerate research and development of the carbon-cutting technologies which will power the vehicles of tomorrow.

Plug-in cars and other ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) are already widely available, with sales gathering pace, and the government is funding further research to support the growth of this important sector and cement the UKs position as a world leader in the development of the technology behind the vehicles.

Early in the year the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlined how 500 million would be used to promote ULEVs in the UK to create jobs and drive economic growth, while making the national fleet cleaner and greener. This included 100 million for industry-led research and development.

Now the government is putting 11 million of this funding into a competition that is being run by Innovate UK the Technology Strategy Board. Innovate UKs Adapting cutting-edge technologies competition opened recently and industry had already been invited to bid for a share of the funding available to deliver its aims. The additional funding from government takes the total available to up to 15 million.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said:

This new 11 million for research and development shows our support to UK companies leading the way to cleaner and greener transport technologies. They are investing in more efficient transport, and that is the best way to drive our economy forward.

By 2040 we expect virtually all new cars and vans to be using carbon-cutting technology and we want to see as much of this as possible designed and built here, in the UK, delivering economic as well as environmental benefits.

We are already a world leader in this field and we must invest more resources to maintain our edge.

Business Minister Matthew Hancock said:

We are committed to making sure the UK is at the cutting edge of car technology.

Our automotive industry has been completely revitalised over the last decade and with a new lease of life a new vehicle rolls off a UK production line every 20 seconds.

As part of our long-term economic plan, investments like this will make sure that Britain is the leading light of the automotive industry - developing green technologies and creating thousands of new jobs across the country.

Through co-funding this competition with Innovate UK, the government is increasing the opportunities for UK industry to progress further in low emission technologies, create UK jobs and capability, and ultimately reduce emissions through technology uptake on the road.

Details and key dates for the Innovate UK competition are available from the Innovate UK website, competition page.

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