Partners revealed in UK’s £3.7bn connected and automated mobility sector drive

Transport for London (TfL), IAG and Admiral are among the organisations that have been revealed as successful in offering feasibility projects that will be undertaken as part of the 2025 connected and automated mobility (CAM) pathfinder feasibility studies (FS) competition.

The UK government sees a thriving CAM ecosystem as key to driving innovation and helping it realise its ambition of creating a £40bn CAM sector and over 6,500 jobs in the industry by 2040.

Running until 2030, the CAM Pathfinder is seen as being key to realising the automotive industry’s potential. It is aimed at addressing the challenges of bringing CAM vehicles to market, providing funding for projects that are intended to develop “world-first” technologies, products and services, ranging from “cutting-edge” software to smart transport offerings.

The CAM Pathfinder is delivered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), supported by Zenzic, created by the UK government and industry to champion the CAM ecosystem, and innovation agency Innovate UK.

CCAV is a joint policy unit of the Department for Transport and the Department for Business and Trade, leading in shaping and delivering the UK government’s policies on connected and autonomous vehicles.

Projects funded by CAM Pathfinder must demonstrate that the technology or mobility services being developed can help industries become safer, as well as more sustainable, inclusive and productive.

The FS competition – which is part of the £150m Pathfinder programme announced in the government’s advanced manufacturing sector plan – aims to investigate early commercial CAM opportunities and support the UK supply chain to grow and fill technology gaps necessary for their deployment.

A total of £18m has already been committed to support 37 projects in 2025. Among the 14 successful projects are those from London Bus Depots; Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle; CitiPod; Glasgow Automated Mobility Mass-Transit Accelerator; Adastra; Kirkwall Autolink; Networked AV Integration and Governance with Advanced Technology and Security; Feasibility Study for Self-Driving Shuttles in Mobility Hubs; Runway to Autonomy; Modular Automated Electric Vehicle; Developing Objective and Quantifiable Risk Assessment for CAV; Exploring Deployment of CAM Technologies and Services for Events; and Removing NUIC Obstacles for Autonomous Baggage Handling Vehicles.

Remarking on the successful companies, Mike Biddle, executive director for net zero at Innovate UK, said the funding for these CAM feasibility studies will enable the project teams to explore early commercial opportunities and address key technology gaps, to accelerate the development of services needed for more widespread CAM deployment.

“This announcement highlights the UK’s commitment to innovation and signals confidence in the industry’s future potential,” he said. “Our teams here at Innovate UK work in partnership to support businesses on their journey, from feasibility through to real-world deployment, helping them unlock opportunities, drive innovation, and deliver long-term economic and societal benefits.”

Mark Cracknell, programme director at Zenzic, said: “We are looking forward to working with the consortiums delivering each of the 14 projects over the coming weeks and months to further develop their businesses’ cases, demonstrate the commerciality of their solutions and provide vital insight into the opportunities presented by the UK becoming a global CAM pioneer.”