UK boosts funding for low emissions vehicles

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain announced an extra 106 million pounds ($138 million) in funding to help boost the research and development of environmentally-friendly vehicles, batteries and low-carbon technology. Executives and politicians will gather in Birmingham on Tuesday for a Zero Emission Vehicle Summit as the government hopes to make Britain a world-leading country in low emissions technology. A series of investments totalling more than 500 million pounds are also being announced by a number of companies, including Aston Martin, which will create over 1,000 new jobs. “These measures will drive the design, use, uptake and infrastructure necessary for cleaner, greener vehicles – and in doing so, it will help us drastically reduce a major contributor to our global warming emissions,” Prime Minister Theresa May said in pre-released excerpts of comments she is set to make. May will also host a roundtable discussion at the conference with supply-chain companies from Germany, the United States, Japan, China, Spain and India to help boost demand as Britain tries to encourage inward investment as it leaves the European Union.