Region to be test bed for driverless car technology Autonomous vehicles to hit Midland roads within two years
DRIVERLESS cars are to run on roads in Birmingham and Coventry within the next two years in the first real world testing of the technology.
The government has given the goahead to researchers to trial autonomous cars alongside regular traffic on roads in the West Midlands.
And they expect the tests to be ready in the next two years, although the roads they will run on have not yet been revealed.
The pilot project is part of a £51 million investment in research of driverless cars unveiled by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The government sees the emerging technology as one in which the UK can be a world leader.
Researchers from the University of Warwick have been given cash to set up the real world tests in Birmingham and Coventry.
The only other location set to test the cars on active roads will be Greenwich in London. Until now, tests have been on private roads and test sites.
But the Birmingham and Coventry trials will see the vehicles out on public roads for the first time in the UK.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street welcomed the news.
“Dr Ralf Speth, the chief executive of JLR, is fond of saying the automotive industry will change more in the next five years than the last 50,” said Mr Street.
“And it is important that society as a whole is ready for the changes technology will bring to mobility. That is why I campaigned in the mayoral election to support efforts to make West Midlands roads available for the safe testing of connected and autonomous vehicles.
“The West Midlands is already emerging as a global centre for this industry, but if we are to become the outright leader, we need to ensure testing can take place close to the design and manufacture.
“This is a bold step for the West Midlands and offers us not only a golden opportunity for our region’s economy, but could also genuinely help change the world.”
The £51 million has been handed to five projects across the Midlands:
The Warwick Manufacturing Group will set up real world test environments in Coventry and Birmingham;
Horiba Mira Nuneaton will build a track to test the handling and speed of autonomous vehicles;
A test track is to be built at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire;
Another test track at Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire will be designed to mimic real world environments;
There will be live test environments in Greenwich and the Olympic Park in London.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said: “These projects, backed by government, form part of a globally unique cluster running from our automotive heartlands in the West Midlands, down through our innovation centres in Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes, through to London.
“To achieve this, government and industry are working together to create the world’s most effective CAV (Connected and Autonomous) testing ecosystem, integrating existing proving grounds and public road test sites across the UK’s existing automotive sector, strengthening existing capabilities and creating new ones.”
A new car industry organisation called Meridian has been set up to oversee and coordinate the research.
Launch Director of Meridian Jim Campbell said: “As connected and autonomous vehicle technology becomes more complex, ensuring that the UK automotive industry has world-leading facilities to test and refine concepts is of imperative importance.
“The announcement from the government is a strong first step to ensure the UK achieves its ambition of becoming a global hub of CAV development in the coming years.”
It offers us not only a golden opportunity for our region’s economy, but could also genuinely help change the world Mayor Andy Street