Management at a globally recognised vehicle R&D site have called on motor manufacturers and suppliers to speed up their adoption of cleaner, greener electric engines.
Greg Harris, who leads global electrification services at Horiba MIRA on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border, said spending needed to be stepped up to support investment such as Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) recent commitment put £1 billion into UK electric car production.
JLR is going to build the electric vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in the West Midlands, starting with a electric version of the Jaguar XJ.
The move will secure 2,700 worker's jobs.
JLR said that despite investing heavily in new technology, production lines and battery assembly plants, there needs to be a new industry commitment to building a string of so-called “gigafactories” across the UK to meet eventual demand for battery cells.
Right now those cells are imported from Asia.
Horiba MIRA, which sits on a former airfield at Higham-on-the-Hill on the A5, near Hinckley, is a leading centre for the development of new technologies such as electric engines and self-driving cars.
It was bought by the £1 billion-plus turnover Japanese Horiba group back in July 2015, and has since seen tens of millions of pounds of investments in facilities, buildings, engineering work and test tracks.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders recently said sales of cars powered by alternative sources such as battery and hybrid engines were down more than 10 per cent last month compared with the same month last year.
Mr Harris said industry needed to do even more to make it easier and more appealing for drivers to buy electric cars – including overcoming “range anxiety” and general concerns about the overall cost of electric and alternative fuel vehicles.
He said: “Jaguar Land Rover’s commitment to the future development of EVs is a positive move for the UK automotive industry.
“However, as an industry more needs to be done to overcome challenges of customer perception, which is something we are consistently working on to ensure the next generation of vehicles are safer, cleaner and smarter.
“In recent years, the UK’s capabilities in producing cleaner vehicles has expanded rapidly – but consumer appetite still has a long way to go.
“The only way to truly increase the number of people willing to make the transition to electric cars is by investing in a rigorous development, testing and evaluation programme that adequately communicates the latest technological advances to consumers.
“Horiba MIRA has been working with low carbon propulsion and battery systems for over 15 years, and much of what we do is understanding the performance and characteristics of battery cells.
“Our Advanced Battery Development Suite enables us to carry out such activities at extremely high resolution and accuracy, and also allows us to investigate the energy efficiency and durability of EV batteries – a move that is critical in demonstrating the long-term viability and credibility of these vehicles to the end customer.”
