Leyland Trucks investment to accelerate battery electric vehicle ambitions

Leyland Trucks has secured a multi-million pound investment from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) to drive forward its battery electric vehicle (BEV) technology.

£77 million has been awarded to seven UK businesses focused on green transport technology. The figure comprises £38.4 million from government, backed by a further £38.7 million from the vehicle industry.

Leyland Trucks’ share includes £2.6 million awarded by government, matched by industry to a total of £5.1 million. The funds will be invested into research and development, to increase productivity and production of battery electric DAF trucks.

Leyland Trucks will work collaboratively with APC and industry-leading partners HSSMI and Expert Tooling to carry out the project. Together, it will transform green transport technology and deliver net-zero best practices that can be shared throughout its supply chain and the wider sector to drive decarbonisation ambitions. 

Named the ‘ZETTA’ project, the scheme will contribute towards an overall goal of supporting 4,440 jobs across the UK and eliminating 58.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. 

Simon Powell, Manpower Planning Engineer at Leyland Trucks, said: “Together, we’re making zero emission heavy duty trucking possible, and this research and development partnership project marks another step forward for our manufacturing techniques and clean technology journey of the future’.