Announced at the Cenex LCV2015 event, the 'Seeding Tomorrow’s Vehicle Technologies Today' competition will support the development of new technology for road vehicles aimed at delivering significant reductions in CO2 and other emissions.

The news was accompanied by the announcement that a consortium led by Warwick Manufacturing Group had won a government-backed £10m Ultra Low Emission Battery Prize, which incentivises the development of the next generation of batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles in the UK.

Together, manufacturers Jaguar Land Rover, JCB, Alexander Dennis and Ariel Motors, successfully demonstrated the UK's ability to develop high voltage automotive battery packs. It will lay the foundations for a new UK automotive supply chain over the next 12 months.

Speaking at LCV2015, Business Minister Anna Soubry said: “Together these projects will help keep the British low carbon vehicle industry at the cutting edge – generating valuable trade and investment opportunities and new highly-skilled jobs. The £20m competition will springboard some of the UK’s best low carbon vehicle innovations to market and Warwick Manufacturing Group’s battery project will create a new UK supply chain in a field with huge growth opportunities.”