A BMW project centred around developing a long-distance electric vehicle battery has been awarded £26.2 million in joint funding from industry and the UK government.
The funding has been committed to a project led by BMW Group to develop an electric battery in Oxford that will rival the range of internal combustion engines.
More specifically, the project aims to develop BMW Group’s largest battery pack to deliver superior performance at competitive costs and further develop electric vehicle technology, enabling enhanced performance and emission savings.
BMW has been working with its suppliers and partners to drive sustainability through every aspect of the vehicle lifecycle as part of its ambition to produce the greenest electric car with more than 50% of global sales of BMW Group brand vehicles to be electric by 2030.
Andreas Loehrke, Head of Research and Design for BMW Motorsport Ltd. UK, commented, “This is a really exciting opportunity to collaborate with world leading companies to develop high tech battery technology. It strengthens our UK partner base and safeguards and extends our research and design centre.”
£12.8 million of the funding was awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre competition (APC18). The BMW project is one of the four projects awarded funding through the competition, which backs businesses developing green automotive technology.
Ian Constance, Chief Executive at the APC, said: “These projects tackle some really important challenges in the journey to net-zero road transport. They address range anxiety and cost, which can be barriers to people making the switch to electric vehicles, and they also provide potential solutions to the challenge of how we decarbonise public transport and the movement of goods.
“By investing in this innovation, we’re taking these technologies closer to the point where they are commercially viable, which will strengthen the UK’s automotive supply chain, safeguard or create jobs and reduce harmful greenhouse emissions.”
The four projects, which collectively received a total of £91.7 million in late-stage research and development funding, are forecast to create and safeguard thousands of UK jobs, boost the UK’s automotive supply chain, and remove emissions equivalent to 1.3 million cars*, accelerating progress towards 2050 climate targets.
Lord Grimstone, Minister for Investment, said: “By investing tens of millions in the technology needed to decarbonise our roads, not only are we working hard to end our contribution to climate change, but also ensuring our automotive sector has a competitive future that will secure thousands of highly-skilled jobs.
“Seizing the opportunities that arise from the global green automotive revolution is central to our plans to build back greener, and these winning projects will help make the widespread application and adoption of cutting-edge, clean automotive technology a reality.”
*Lifetime emissions comparison metrics are calculated based on an average annual mileage of 7,400 miles in a vehicle with CO2 emissions at 149.6 g/km and a vehicle life of 13.9 years. This is in line with the latest SMMT data.
