Oxa has been named by the UK government in its Advanced Manufacturing Plan which sets out £150m (US$190m) of investment to supercharge the self-driving vehicle sector as part of a bigger stimulus package targeted at high-tech industries.
The new investment builds on the around £600m (US$757m)of joint investment with industry and the government in more than 100 projects across the UK since 2015. This has led to significant investment across the UK, including: Oxa, who announced £115m (US$145m) of investment earlier this year, including from Ocado, ZF, Wenco and Google.
Read more: UK government announces funding to advance autonomous transportation technologies
The UK government said, “We want the UK to be the European leader in the transformation of how we move people and goods around the country. Through our CAM2030 program, we are extending our current R&D support program to 2030 with up to £150m funding to support operational deployments of self-driving services. This will include on- and off-road logistics and high potential mass transit services … [and] seizing the opportunities that CAM provides, the UK could generate additional economic benefits of up to £66bn (US$83bn) a year and create 342,000 new jobs by 2040.”
Responding to the publication of the Plan, Oxa CEO Gavin Jackson said, “The financial injection the Advanced Manufacturing Plan will deliver into the UK’s self-driving vehicle industry is a fantastic vote of confidence in the work Oxa and the wider autonomous mobility community has been doing. Ministers clearly see the value of self-driving technology – not only in terms of helping to revolutionize the way we travel in the UK, with increased safety and sustainability and additional people-moving capacity, but in the sector’s ability to create a whole new export opportunity based on UK ingenuity.
Oxa shared on its LinkedIn: “We are delighted to be included by the Government in its Advanced Manufacturing Plan.” The post went on to outline that this further funding is fundamental to bringing improved mass transit options to the public once regulations are established through the Automated Vehicles Bill.
“It will also help to bring the self-driving revolution to the people who need it the most through self-driving shuttles,” accordng to the social post.
Jackson, continued, “The financial injection the Advanced Manufacturing Plan will deliver into the UK’s self-driving vehicle industry is a fantastic vote of confidence in the work Oxa and the wider autonomous mobility community has been doing.
“I am particularly excited to see the government call out self-driving mass transit schemes as it speaks to Oxa’s focus on shuttle services. We see autonomous shuttling as the quickest and best long-term benefit that self-driving technology can deliver as the benefits will be felt from city to countryside, warehouse to airport apron and far beyond.”
The government’s latest announcement follows the entry into Parliament of the long-awaited Automated Vehicles Bill.