UK Government Announcing Green Auto Tech Investment

Greg Hyde

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11th September 2018

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is announcing a program of investment in green automotive technology at the country’s inaugural Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) summit.

She is using the event in Birmingham to discuss her plans for the country to become a “world leader in low-emission technology”, according to a government statement. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, Business Secretary Greg Clark and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox are attending. The government is also apparently planning to use the event to launch a new international framework for the introduction of environmentally friendly cars and “smart, zero-emission infrastructure”. Signatories to this framework include France, Denmark, Belarus, Indonesia, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates and Italy.

May is hosting a discussion at the summit with automotive equipment manufacturers from countries including China, the US, Spain and France on the subject of how her government can cooperate with businesses to accelerate the development of low-emission technology.

The ZEV summit is being used to make a raft of announcements regarding the sector. These include the news that Aston Martin is basing its electrification operations at its plant in St Athan, Wales, and that The EV Network, an electric vehicle charging station company, is collaborating with France’s Leclanché on development of 200 charging stations for which the latter company will provide the battery storage. Fox had positive things to say about both those announcements, claiming they confirmed “the UK’s position as Europe’s premier investment destination” and its status as “a world leader in electric vehicle technology”.