Business Minister Richard Harrington has invited companies to compete for funding to support the development of self-driving vehicles on UK roads.

Funded through the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and Meridian (the Government’s hub for testing autonomous technology), the ‘competitions’ will see Government and industry jointly investing in UK businesses to help realise the Government’s ambition to have fully self-driving vehicles on UK roads by 2021.

The next round of the competition could address drivers’ parking fears, with up to £5 million being awarded to projects developing and testing autonomous-parking technology designed to allow self-driving cars to park
in a range of different environments without human intervention.

The money will also fund two public-testing sites for self-driving cars in urban settings. The first of their kind in Europe, these sites will ensure that connected and autonomous vehicles become a normal feature on UK roads.

Mr Harrington said: “Self-driving vehicles have the potential to revolutionise the way we move people and goods across the UK. They also support our ambition for a cleaner and greener future, as part of our Industrial Strategy.

"The UK is already leading the way in developing this technology; today’s funding will bring self-driving vehicles one step closer to becoming a normal feature on UK roads and could, in time, make learning to parallel-park a thing of the past.”