The government is to allocate a new fund to a conglomerate of car manufacturers to develop environmentally-friendly vehicles using technology derived from Formula One cars.
Automotive history has seen plenty of motorsport-derived technology trickle down into passenger cars, from carbon fibre to hybrid engines, but ministers hope to soon accelerate the process.
The fund is part of a wider £38.2 million government initiative to allow UK-based car manufacturers, technology companies and research centres to help the country become a global leader in Green transport.
F1-style lightweighting
A total of £1.7 million will be allocated to manufacturers including Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover, who will apply F1-derived science to make passenger cars lighter and thereby more fuel efficient.
Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “Our £38 million investment will help Britain become a world leader in this exciting and valuable technology sector, creating skilled jobs of the future as part of our long-term economic plan.
“It will also mean lower running costs for motorists and less fuel consumption, which is good for the environment and our economy.”
£38.2m greener car fund
The fund combines £30 million from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles with £8.2 million donated by Innovate UK, and is part of the government’s wider commitment to supporting low-emissions vehicles.
Other companies to receive money will include Sheffield-based Faradion, which will get £1.3 million to develop electric vehicle batteries that use lower-cost sodium ion technology.
Controlled Power Technologies in Essex will receive £1.8 million to develop low-cost hybrid systems, while HiETA in the South West has been awarded £3.1 million to create advanced lightweight alloys.
Aim to have tech on sale by 2020
Roland Meister, head of transport at Innovate UK said: “UK businesses have a great opportunity to be at the leading edge of the global drive to increase efficiency and reduce emissions from our vehicles.
“This £38m of Government support means that more than 130 innovative organisations right across the country now have the chance to get their ideas off the drawing board and potentially into the cars and trucks of the future, boosting the economy by at least £532m in the process.”
The companies will be aiming to create working prototypes of their new technologies by 2018, with an aim to having them included in passenger cars by 2020.
