DEPARTMENT FOR
BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/250)
issued by COI News Distribution Service. 27 October 2008
New initiatives to
put Britain at the forefront of a green motoring revolution by
encouraging a mass market in electric and hybrid cars have been
announced today.
With the potential to create up to 10,000 new British jobs and
help preserve many thousands more; this comes as part of wider
Government plans to make the most of the low carbon economy, with
estimates that around a million green jobs could be generated by 2030.
Fulfilling Gordon Brown's pledge this summer to speed up the
delivery of low carbon and electric vehicles for ordinary
motorists, experts from across the globe are gathered in Whitehall
today to examine how to turn this into a reality.
Speaking at this International Experts Meeting, Transport
Secretary Geoff Hoon set out the next steps across Government to
deliver a £100 million commitment to accelerate the emergence of
the greener vehicles of tomorrow. As part of this 100 electric
cars will be provided in UK towns and cities to allow families and
other motorists the opportunity to feedback the practical steps
needed to make greener motoring an everyday reality.
He said:
"Electric cars and other low carbon vehicles, like plug-in
hybrids, cut fuel costs and reduce harmful emissions. If we can
inspire more people to use them, it will help us to make a
positive impact on climate change.
"Alongside this, their research and manufacture is an
emerging industry with the potential to create new jobs and
safeguard existing employment in the UK. Therefore exploring how
to ensure they are a practical and affordable everyday option
makes sense all round. That is what the cross Government package
of measures announced today will do."
Motor manufacturers will be invited to bid for the opportunity to
participate in a £10 million project to run electric car and ultra
low carbon vehicle demonstration projects, overseen by the
Technology Strategy Board. This will see around 100 electric cars
provided to allow families and other motorists the opportunity to
feedback the practical steps needed to make greener motoring an
everyday reality.
At the same time, up to £20m has been dedicated to UK research
into improving technology that could make electric and other green
cars more practical and affordable.
This follows the publication of important new research which
concludes that, correctly managed, the UK power system could
support widespread use of electric cars and their charging needs
without requiring large numbers of new power stations.
Secretary of State for Business, Lord Mandelson, said:
"Investment in greener motoring forms part of our plan to
put the UK at the forefront of the new low carbon revolution. We
know our automotive sector has a global reputation for taking
forward new technology and we want the UK to be at the heart of
new developments in electric vehicles.
"In the recent Manufacturing Strategy we made clear our
determination to support the next generation of low carbon cars
and today we are delivering on our promises. Work will continue
next year when we produce our low carbon industrial strategy."
Lord Drayson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, added:
"The technologies for low carbon vehicles are developing
fast, whether for all-electric, hybrid or alternative fuels. The
challenge for the UK is to ensure industry takes full advantage of
this shift and explores opportunities now, to position itself as a
world leader in low carbon vehicle technology in the long term.
"To do this, the Government-funded Technology Strategy Board
is providing further investment of up to £30m to support industry
R&D and demonstrations of electric and other low carbon
vehicles. This investment will accelerate the development of these
vehicles and bring benefits to UK businesses and, ultimately, help
to meet the UK's emissions targets."
The Government has already committed to removing the barriers
that could slow a changeover to greener motoring. This includes a
commitment to facilitate the roll-out of charging infrastructure
through the planning system and to collaborating with other
countries to develop international standards and consider how best
to encourage the right consumer market to promote electric and
other low carbon vehicles.
Work also continues with energy companies and the National Grid
to assess the impact on the electricity system of the widespread
use of electric drive vehicles.
To encourage the mass production of green vans for the first
time, the Department for Transport also announced today that 10
companies have been shortlisted to bid to provide electric and low
carbon vans to some councils and other public sector bodies, like
the Royal Mail, as part of a £20m programme to ensure all road
transport emissions are reduced. Liverpool, Newcastle, Gateshead,
Coventry, Glasgow and Leeds will be among the first councils to
trial green vans on their streets.
The 10 companies are: Ford; Mercedes Benz; Citroen; Ashwoods;
Land Rover, Modec; Smiths; Electric Vehicles; LDV; Nissan and
Allied Vehicles. A list of the public sector bodies are provided
in the notes to editors.
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon added:
"Vans make up around 15% of road transport emissions in the
UK, and their emissions are rising more than any other mode of
road transport.
"That's why we are committed to this new programme to
help kick-start the market. In the public sector there is
considerable demand for vans so we want to use our spending power
to lead the way in developing lower carbon options that will
appeal across the board."
Notes to editors
1. The new competitions announced today are
funded by the Technology Strategy Board's Low Carbon Vehicles
Innovation Platform (LCVIP). The next phase of the LCVIP is a
£100m programme over 5 years with funding coming from the
Technology Strategy Board (£20m), the Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council (£10m) and Department for Transport
(£10m). Major contributions have also been received from two
Regional Development Agencies - the Advantage West Midlands (£30m)
and One North East (£30m).
2. The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive
non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its
role is to promote and support research into, and development and
exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK
business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the
quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills (DIUS).
Vehicle pilot and research and development competitions announced today
3. The ultra low carbon vehicle demonstration competition aims to
see up to 100 new innovative cars on the road in several locations
around the UK by the end of 2009. This competition has up to £10m
of funding available and will provide a portion of the costs for
business led demonstration projects of vehicles with tailpipe
emissions of 50g CO2/km or less and a significant electric only
range. Applications will be requested in January 2009. The
Technology Strategy Board aims to announce the successful projects
in March.
4. To ensure that this demonstration fully considers the
attitudes of consumers, the Technology Strategy Board will
undertake a series of public dialogue initiatives. DIUS will
provide support to this activity through the Sciencewise ERC,
providing the networking across Government to ensure that the
views of consumers are taken into account in the development of
Government policy in this area.
5. The Energy Technologies Institute will then hold a stakeholder
workshop in December, to develop a second wave of demonstrations
focused on understanding the requirements of the charging
infrastructure, building on the early pilots of 100 innovative
cars tested by ordinary motorists.
6. The electrification of road transport has been identified by
stakeholders as a critical area of research and development to
achieve a longer term vision of decarbonisation. The research
competition launched today (into improving technology to make
green cars more affordable) provides up to £10m for business led
collaborative research and development to support projects in all
areas relevant to the development of enabling system and
sub-system technologies to deliver more cost effective and higher
performing all-electric and hybrid vehicles for mass market
applications. Applications will be invited from 19th January 2009
with a deadline for expressions of interest of 26th February 2009
- project decisions will be expected in May 2009.
7. The second research competition (launched by the Technology
Strategy Board today) is an open technology competition for wider
collaborative projects covering all vehicle technologies capable
of delivering large scale carbon reductions in the coming decades.
This competition will have between £5 and £10m available and
applications will be invited from June 2009 with project decisions
expected in November 2009. Further detail on these two
competitions will be available on the Technology Strategy Board
website - http://www.innovateuk.org.
8. A third element of research activity provides funding for the
underpinning basic university-led research on lower carbon vehicle
technology. This will support research relevant to lower carbon
vehicles, which could potentially be taken forward into
collaborative research and development activity in the future.
Next year the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
will be committing £3m towards academic-led research within the
Integrated Delivery Programme remit. Further details of the call
and any priorities will be available when the call is announced.
CENEX Report
9. BERR and the Department for Transport commissioned a study by
Cenex - the UK Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell -
technologies and engineering consultants Arup into the
electrification of road transport. This study considers a wide
range of issues relevant to the development and roll out of
electric vehicles. The study will be published on BERR's
website: http://www.berr.gov.uk/
International Experts Meeting
10. Low Carbon Cars: Exploring the Challenge of bringing Electric
Vehicles to Market International Experts' Meeting is being
arranged by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform (BERR) and the Department for Transport (DfT) in London on
Monday 27 and Millbrook, Bedfordshire on Tuesday 28 October at the
National Low Carbon Vehicle event.
11. 140 people are expected to attend the event. They include
industry, academia and Government representatives from countries
such as Japan, India, France, Germany, USA, Canada, Portugal,
Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Israel, Czech Republic,
Norway and Sweden.
12. Daniel Sperling is Professor of Civil Engineering and
Environmental Science and Policy, and founding Director of the
Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of
California, Davis (ITS-Davis). In February 2007, Governor
Schwarzenegger appointed Dr. Sperling to the
"automotive" seat on the California Air Resources Board.
His chief responsibilities are oversight and design of the
state's climate change, alternatives fuels, and zero emission
vehicle programs. He also served as co-director of the Low Carbon
Fuel Standard study for the State of California. Dr. Sperling is
recognised as a leading international expert on transportation
technology assessment, energy and environmental aspects of
transportation and transportation policy.
13. Other speakers at the event include: The Secretary of State
for Transport, Geoff Hoon who will be giving further details on
the move to greener motoring; Ian Marchant from Scottish and
Southern Energy; Terunobu Yamauchi, from Japan's Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, Tayce Wakefield of General Motors and
Lewis Booth from the Ford Motor Company.
14. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
(BERR) helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive
world. It promotes business growth and a strong enterprise
economy, leads the better regulation agenda and champions free and
fair markets. It is the shareholder in a number of
Government-owned assets.
DfT Green Van Procurement Programme
15. The Department for Transport's low carbon vehicle
procurement programme is a £20m programme to support the
demonstration and use of lower carbon vehicles in the public
sector. The programme, which is managed by Cenex, is initially
focussed on vans. The 10 companies shortlisted to bid to supply
both lower carbon (more fuel efficient) and all-electric vans to
the public sector are
a. lower carbon van: Ford; Mercedes Benz; Citroen; Ashwoods; Land
Rover
b. all electric van: Modec; Smiths; Electric Vehicles;
LDV; Nissan; Allied Vehicles
16. Local authorities in Liverpool, Newcastle & Gateshead,
Coventry, Leeds and Glasgow have been selected to participate in
the first phase of the programme. All have been selected following
a fully competitive UK-wide process. These local authorities are
added to the existing six initial public sector organisations
involved in the programme which have already been announced and
are: Royal Mail; H M Revenue & Customs; Metropolitan Police;
Transport for London; Environment Agency; Government Car and
Despatch Agency.
Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory
Reform
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