Government announces new £19m competition to encourage introduction of low carbon vehicles

Fri 11 December 2009 View all news

The Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has announced a £19 million competition to support industry-led collaborative projects which focus on strengthening UK capability and developing the UK's supply networks for low and ultra low carbon vehicle projects.

Speaking at the first meeting of the Automotive Council, Lord Mandelson also confirmed that Vauxhall Chairman Bill Parfitt is to chair the Supply Chain council that will support the work of the Automotive Council.

The government-backed Technology Strategy Board is putting £10 million into this new Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform competition and will run it in partnership with the cross-government Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

The Department for Transport (DfT) is putting £9 million into the competition that will be focusing on technology development and expanding the UK supply chain.

Lord Mandelson said: “This investment is another important step for the UK towards a low carbon economy. The Government is committed to targeting areas where there is potential to build on existing capabilities and deliver global competitive advantage and economic benefit for the UK."

Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said: “The UK can be a world leader in low carbon transport which is why the Government has already committed around £400 million of support to encourage development and uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles.

“This programme will further support our aim for ultra-low carbon vehicles to be an increasingly everyday feature of life on Britain’s roads in the next five years."

In February 2010 the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) plans to open a competition with the £19m available via BIS and DfT. The TSB expects to invest in three to six projects which demonstrate significant CO2 improvement through the development of UK supply chain capability. This could be through physical demonstration of technology at a vehicle or system level. The final scope and timings will be published in January. (For more information follow the associated link.)

Related Links

< Back to news list