MORE THAN £77 MILLION COMMITTED BY GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP ZERO-EMISSION VEHICLES

The government has committed £77 million in new funding for projects developing clean transport technologies, with companies from across the region benefiting.

The schemes, which range from work on battery-powered buses, to a hydrogen-powered version of the iconic Ford Transit van, will support more than 4,400 jobs across the UK over the next decade.

The funding has been awarded through the Warwick-based Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Collaborative Research and Development programme, to help build a supply chain for zeroemission vehicles (ZEVs) in the UK.

More than £38 million of this investment comes from government, backed by a further £38.7 million from the automobile industry.

Chief Executive at the APC, Ian Constance, said: “I’m pleased to have well-known brand names among this £77 million funding round through the APC, as well as innovative SMEs bringing through exciting new developments.”

This includes unlocking private investment in gigafactories, battery material supply chains, motors, power electronics and fuel cell systems.

The ATF is being delivered by the Department for Business and Trade in partnership with the APC.

The winning projects include

£6.3 million to Jaguar Land Rover’s EleVAIT, matched by industry to a total £12.6 million. This research project will develop technology for inverters – a key component in electric vehicles. Project partners include the University of Bristol, Andover-based Customer Interconnect and API Capacitors Ltd.

HYER POWER – ULEMCO Ltd

£3.9 million awarded by government, matched by industry to a total £7.9 million. This project will develop a hydrogen fuel cell range extender for electric vehicles used for special purposes, such as ambulances, fire engines and street sweepers.

Project partners include Leamington Spa-based Altair Engineering, Emergency One, Technical Services Ltd and Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Services.

HEIDI – Bramble Energy Ltd

£6.3 million awarded by government, matched by industry to a total £12.7 million. This project will demonstrate a fuel cell/battery hybrid powertrain on a doubledecker bus. This novel product will be cheaper than the equivalents currently available for large vehicles like buses and uses innovative new electronics and energy recovery technologies.

Project partners include: the University of Bath, Equipmake and Warwick-based Aeristech.