'Next-gen' electric and self-driving cars to get £130m boost

The UK’s car industry is being given a massive £130m boost… and no, it’s not so it can temporarily repair that nasty pothole on your road. That’d bankrupt the treasury. No, the money’s for developing the electric and self-driving cars that’ll create more of them.

As part of its ‘Drive35’ programme, the UK government will dish out £65m worth of grants, matched by £65m from the car industry, to accelerate the development of “cutting edge new zero emission vehicle technologies”, as well as supporting jobs up and down the supply chain, and cutting millions of tonnes of CO2.

The idea is the government will invest in new tech – clean, zero-emission and hopefully world-class EV tech – that’ll then help speed the take-up of said EVs, which in turn will help everyone connected to the electric car world much better off. And of course, the nation.

So it’s been designed to support, say, scaling up battery manufacturing, making supply chains more resilient by keeping them here, and developing better sensor, brake-by-wire and AI tech that can then be deployed not just in cars, but buses, construction, airports and – oh, hang on – highways maintenance!

“Britain invented the modern motor industry and we’re determined to ensure the next generation of vehicles are designed and built here too,” said industry minister Blair McDougall.

Bentley, Nissan and electric motor-manufacturer YASA have been confirmed as receiving grants, but there are loads of other companies big and small that’ll get money to develop tech.

“This investment is about far more than individual projects. It is about strengthening the UK’s capability to design, develop and build the technologies that will define the vehicles of the future,” said Advanced Propulsion Centre UK boss Ian Constance.

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