£10 million investment into ULEV research facility

A new facility researching advanced propulsion systems at Bristol and Bath Science Park has been awarded additional funding of £10 million.

According to Insider Media, the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has committed support for the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) with the allocation of funds through the Local Growth Fund.

The grant is in addition to £28.9m from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF).

It will enable the construction of the £60m facility to start in the summer of 2018. It is scheduled to open in early 2020.

Its aim is to lead the development of future generations of ultra-low emission vehicles and will utilise the engineering expertise
at the University of Bath.

It is expected to stimulate more than £67 million in additional automotive research investment by 2025, creating additional turnover of £800 million for the UK automotive sector and supporting about 1,900 new jobs.