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West Midlands get car research programme

A new research and development programme has been launched to support the West Midlands' niche vehicle manufactures.

The Advanced Niche Vehicle Programme will be managed by the Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technology (CENEX) and supported by Coventry University.

Around 25 specialist car and chassis manufacturers in the region are to play their part in developing the project which is being funded by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.

Dr Richard Hutchins, corporate director of economic development at the agency, said: "The base of specialist technology organisations is a distinct regional asset, actively generating new automotive technology.

"Making this accessible to independent niche manufacturers in collaborative groups will promote growth in the cluster through improved competitive advantage, while spreading costs will help overcome the financially driven aversion to take risks in adopting new technology."

The University of Birmingham recently became the first UK university to run a fleet of hydrogen-powered cars.

Designed by Microcab, the hydrogen cars will be compared with the institution's fleet of petrol, diesel and electric vehicles to compare efficiency and establish what steps need to be taken to make hydrogen more attractive as a fuel.

Find out how the Energy Saving Trust work as fleet consultants