What actions is the Welsh Government taking to improve the research and development of zero-emission technologies for road vehicles?
Our new SMART Flexible Innovation Support scheme will be able to invest in discrete, demand-led R&D projects from Welsh businesses and academia in this sector. We are also supporting several larger projects in the shift to zero-emission road vehicles:
· Administer the £2m Ford Low Carbon Vehicle Transformation Fund, addressing technical challenges associated with low-carbon vehicles.
· Promote electric vehicle calls from Innovate UK and the Automotive Propulsion Centre. A Welsh team was successful in winning a Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centre to accelerate development of power electronics motors and drives.
· Support for University of South Wales to establish SESS; Smart Energy Storage Solutions, a research facility for companies piloting technologies in electrical energy storage.
· Our Welsh Automotive Forum is conducting a mapping exercise into Welsh EV capability, for supply chain and inward investment use, to be published in the Summer.
· Support for Cardiff University and industrial partners to research the design of high-performance EV motors.
· Support to establish the Centre for Automotive Power Systems Engineering at University of South Wales. Main activity is contract testing of EV battery systems.
· Welsh Government-supported Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in North Wales has established the £600,000 Hydrogen Electric Propulsion Systems (HEPS) fuel cell assembly testbed.