The UK government has announced the latest batch of projects to win backing from the Department for Transport’s £20 million zero-emission innovation fund.
Four new projects have received a share of the pot: a device that provides battery health data to improve used EV buying; a battery that boosts charging power during peak times; a zero-emission ambulance; and a solar-powered fridge for commercial vehicles.
The BEVscan project, led by Agile Charging, has won £219,181 from the innovation fund to develop a plug-in device for EVs that records battery health. The device is intended to improve consumers’ experience of buying second-hand EVs, a market that is expected to boom in the wake of the government’s 2030 ban on sales of new ICE cars.
The second winner is Chilled Ox, a project to develop a solar-powered refrigeration system, which will enable up to a 37% increase in battery range for small commercial vehicles. The project, led by the Global Vehicle Trust, gained £363,577 of government funding.
A further £466,429 has been allocated to the Hydrogen-powered Specialist Health Vehicle project, which will enable Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) to develop a zero-emissions ambulance with a hydrogen range-extender.
The final winner is Rural Grid Boosting. Led by Levistor, this project, which won £544,109 of backing, will develop a kinetic battery to provide a temporary power boost to ultra-fast EV chargers in rural areas. The boost will be provided during peak times.
The four projects join previous recipients of grants from the Office for Low Emission Vehicle’s (OLEV’s) zero-emissions research pot, including a hydrogen-powered ambulance and pop-up EV chargers.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the funding "will help harness some of the brightest talent in the UK tech industry, encouraging businesses to become global leaders in EV innovation, creating jobs and accelerating us towards our net-zero ambitions".
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I think statistics will show that diesel powered ambulances, fire appliances, life boats and av gas air ambulances have saved significantly more lives than caused deaths. Battery electric cloud cuckoo land will never happen.
Zero emission ambulances are sorely needed. The concept of a diesel ambulance seems increasingly insane, when you consider the numbers of deaths associated with diesel emissions. Currently diesel ambulances are actually responsible for killing people!