The Government has announced over £30m of investment in battery technology, the electric vehicle supply chain and hydrogen vehicles.

Twenty two studies will receive a share of £9.4m. These include proposals to build a plant in Cornwall that will extract lithium for use in electric vehicle batteries, a plant to build specialised magnets for electric vehicle motors in Cheshire and lightweight hydrogen storage for cars and vans in Loughborough.

The Government-backed Faraday Institution is also committing £22.6m to continue its work to further improve the safety, reliability and sustainability of batteries.

Minister for investment Gerry Grimstone commented: ‘We have set an ambitious target to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

‘To support that it is crucial we invest in research so we can power ahead with the shift to electric vehicles as we build back greener from the pandemic.

‘The world leading research announced today showcases the very best of British innovation and it will support all stages of the automotive supply chain to make the switch to electric vehicles – from developing batteries, to exploring how to recycle them.’