The UK Government is to invest £20 million to develop low carbon vehicle technologies.

The ‘Seeding Tomorrow’s Vehicle Technologies Today’ is a competition which aims to support the production of technology for road vehicles in order to reduce carbon emissions.

The proposals must be business-led and may be collaborative, Innovate UK stated.

Small businesses could receive up to 70% of their eligible project costs, medium-sized businesses 60% and large businesses 50%.

The deadline for applications is 28th October.

The UK low carbon vehicles industry is forecast to see an increase in annual sales of £2.9 billion in the next 15 years.

Chancellor George Osborne said: “This is part of our plan to invest over £900 million this decade in ensuring that this country is the best place in the world to own, use or build a high-tech, low-emission car – helping to support the 150,000 jobs created by automotive manufacturing in the UK.”