Capital funding of £8 million will be made available by the government in 2012 to encourage the UK’s road freight industry to buy and use low emission medium and heavy goods vehicles.
The planned investment, announced today by the government in its Autumn Statement, will be managed by the Technology Strategy Board. The funding includes £6.5 million for a low emission goods vehicle demonstration trial, plus the supporting infrastructure for trial vehicles, with a further £1.5 million targeted funding for public gas refuelling hubs.
Extensive work with industry has shown that there are market barriers to the uptake of low emission HGV technologies – such as hybrid, electric and gas – and therefore to development of a UK manufacturing base in these technologies and their component parts.
These barriers centre around a lack of industry confidence in the technologies and an unwillingness to take on the risks of investment.
Facilitating investment in these technologies and their supporting infrastructure, and encouraging and assisting UK operators to buy and use low emission medium- and heavy-goods vehicles, will develop an early stage market for the technologies, helping to ensure the development of a UK manufacturing base that can compete in the international low emission vehicle market.
The investment will be channelled through a funding competition managed on behalf of the Department for Transport by the Technology Strategy Board.
Details of the funding competition will be announced by the Technology Strategy Board in due course, following consultations with industry.
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Fleet News
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