'Making congestion, emissions and accidents a thing of the past' – ambitious new JLR and Warwick centre announced

A new multi-million pound centre will develop technology for smart city vehicles that bosses claim “could help make congestion, emissions and road traffic accidents a thing of the past”.

The Smart City Mobility Centre (SCMC) will be based at the University of Warwick, with researchers from the university’s manufacturing group WMG collaborating with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) engineers. The joint venture comes after WMG chairman Professor Lord Bhattacharyya announced a new private-sector investment of £1bn in automotive R&D, according to The Telegraph.

The team will work at the university’s Wellesbourne campus to design and engineer connected, ‘driverless capable’, electric modular vehicle architectures. These will be tested in real-world conditions using a specially designed 5G communications network on the university’s main campus in Coventry.

Described as “Europe’s most extensive and significant integration of technology research projects at such a scale,” the SCMC will draw on expertise from the new UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, also in Coventry and Warwickshire, and from the new £20m UK Mobility Data Institute. The institute is being established by WMG in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority to collect, process and analyse data from new technology such as driverless vehicles and smart charging of electric vehicles.

“This is the first time in any country that such a comprehensive system is being designed and tested,” said the WMG’s Bhattacharyya. “This will help integrate plans for transport systems that have the potential to bring significant economic benefits to transform and improve the lives of a great many people who could benefit from even safer, less congested, and more environmentally sustainable transport.”

Jaguar Land Rover's chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said the centre “builds on collaboration between JLR, WMG, the University of Warwick and government to develop 5G connectivity in the region – this is critical for new mobility solutions and services that will transform customer experiences in the future. We look forward to this industry-leading project, which will develop prototypes that put the UK at the forefront of automotive technology.”

The SCMC was announced last night at the Coventry and Warwickshire Automotive Dinner. The university and JLR did not publicise when work on the centre would begin.