Glasgow project creating hydrogen powered HGVs awarded £30m in funding from UK Government

A Glasgow-led project to develop a hydrogen powered heavy goods vehicle(HGV) has been awarded £30 million as they aim to create a clean, affordable replacement for the highly polluting diesel-powered HGV tractor units currently used across the UK and Europe.

HVS’s Hydrogen-Electric HGV Powertrain Development project, aims to produce a hydrogen fuel cell that can be used for vehicles such as lorries and rubbish trucks. Hydrogen propulsion is central to ‘decarbonising’ HGVs - as battery packs used by smaller electric vehicles at the scale required would be prohibitively heavy and have lengthy charging times.

The funding announced today (Friday December 2) forms part of joint government and industry backing for projects across the UK, in support of ambitions to build an end-to-end supply chain for zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) in the UK.

HVS CEO Jawad Khursheed said:“Our mission to decarbonise heavy-duty transport in the UK has reached a major milestone with the help of the APC grant. The UK Government performed rigorous due diligence in selecting HVS to receive this grant – acknowledging that our advanced technology is a key innovation towards achieving zero-emission targets.

“We have successfully produced our first driving fuel cell technology demonstrator vehicle and are on track to deliver the UK’s first-to-market hydrogen fuel cell-powered HGV. We have experienced rapid growth at HVS in as little as a year, now with this government support we will boost innovation, create thousands of UK-based jobs, and build upon our goal towards cleaner HGVs.”

The funding has been awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Collaborative Research and Development programme, which supports the development of innovative low and zero-carbon automotive technology. £36.4 million of the total £73 million comes from Government, backed by a further £36.6 million from the automobile industry.

Chief Executive at the APC Ian Constance said:“Supporting vital research and development in the UK, now more than ever, provides an opportunity to invest in transport decarbonisation as well as boost growth in the automotive sector.

“The £73 million of funding announced today furthers world-leading innovation in net-zero technology for the automotive sector and beyond. These five fantastic projects are all collaborative by design, led by high-profile companies with innovative SME and academic partners, representing the best of UK industry.”

Today’s announcement comes on top of funding also being invested by the government through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to develop a high-value end-to-end electrified automotive supply chain in the UK. This includes unlocking private investment in gigafactories, battery material supply chains, motors, power electronics, and fuel cell systems. The ATF is being delivered by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

The Government has committed £211 million to battery research and innovation through the Faraday Battery Challenge, to help the sector deliver 100,000 jobs in battery gigafactories and the battery supply chain by 2040. The funding will be delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with support from the Faraday Institution, Innovate UK, and the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).

The UK Hydrogen Strategy sets out how Government, working with industry, is aiming to develop 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, for use across the economy. This forms a part of the British energy security strategy for delivering secure, clean and affordable British energy for the long term.