Government’s EV investment
OFFICIAL PM pledges funding as firms step up investment in environmentally friendly transport
PM announces infrastructure boost, and industry backs it up
THE Government has announced its intention to make the UK a world leader in low-emission cars and electric vehicles, with £106million in central funding, over £500million investment from industry and 1,000 new jobs.
Prime Minister Theresa May told the first-ever international Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Summit, hosted in Birmingham, she wants Britain “leading from the front” in the development of environmentally friendly transport.
Announcing the funding boost, the PM said one in five EVS sold in Europe is made in Britain, claiming “our batteries are among the best in the world”.
A number of automotive companies echoed May’s confidence. Aston Martin confirmed a further £50m in funding for its St Athan plant in Wales, with the site becoming the hub of its future EVS. These include the all-electric, four-door Rapide, plus models made under the Lagonda sub-brand, all of which will be zeroemission cars. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said the plant demonstrates how “electrification features prominently in our business plan moving forward”.
Further investment is to come from Williams Advanced Engineering, and Unipart. The F1 team’s technology and engineering arm, and the car component and logistics giant, confirmed the founding of Hyperbat, the UK’S first battery manufacturing company. This will be based at a new multi-millionpound plant in Coventry, which is expected to produce 10,000 lithium-ion batteries each year, and create 90 jobs.
Tony Booth, from Williams Advanced Engineering, told Auto Express: “This is the first UK facility to produce batteries for the automotive industry. We’ve started something very new.”
The Zero Emission Vehicle Summit was also intended to “drive foreign direct-investment into the UK as we prepare to leave the European Union”. Cummins, the multi-billion-dollar US engine giant, confirmed it is to plough £210m into automotive research and development in the UK over the next three years. It expects to have an allelectric bus powertrain in production by 2019, opening up new markets for a firm best known for its industrial and commercial diesel engines.
As well as setting the scene for the UK automotive industry after Brexit, these major investments are likely to be crucial if the Government is to deliver on promises made in its Road to Zero policy. This sets out that all new cars and vans should be “effectively” zero-emission by 2040, which has been generally understood to refer to vehicles capable of travelling for 50 miles on battery power alone.
By 2050, Road to Zero states that new cars and vans should be completely zero emission, meaning only ‘pure’ EVS and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles will be allowed in showrooms.