Driverless auto technology to get £20m United Kingdom government funding and testing

“The country’s automotive industry, strengths in innovation and light touch regulatory approach to testing driverless technology combine to make the United Kingdom market competitive and an attractive destination for investors”. This new technology may accelerate competitiveness in the future, business secretary Sajid Javid believes.

The government wants to drive investment in autonomous vehicles, which is predicted to be a £900bn industry by 2025, and is looking to support its development.

“Driverless cars will bring great benefits to our society and economy and I want the United Kingdom to lead the way in developing this exciting technology”, added transport minister Andrew Jones.

The government has confirmed its intention to put the United Kingdom at the forefront of the intelligent mobility market, with the launch of a £20 million competitive fund for collaborative research and development into driverless vehicles.

Bidders wanting a piece of the funding will have to put forward proposals in areas such as safety, reliability, how vehicles communicate with each other and the environment around them, and how they can help give an ageing population greater independence.

The £20 million in funding, which will need to be matched by the successful bidders, forms part of the £100 million for research into intelligent mobility announced by the Chancellor in the Spring 2015 Budget.

The unit is already working on a number of projects, including tests of roadside communications technology to ease heavy traffic flow and improve safety, and piloting technology that provides drivers with useful journey and safety information.

Driverless vehicle projects have been up and running in four cities – London, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry – since February, part-funded by an existing £19m of government funding.

Google is road-testing cars over in the U.S. right now, but United Kingdom trials are still taking place in smaller spaces.

The self-driving vehicles, which are often electric or biofuel-powered where trialled, will benefit from a government-backed research project created to make the United Kingdom the leading test-bed for the revolutionary technology.

The fund will be awarded following a competition to find the most innovative approach for driverless auto technology.

It’s becoming clearer that it’ll be a thing of the future and official reports proved it by presenting UK’s road rules and investments in driverless cars.