A UK university today announced a £400,000 investment to develop automotive technologies which can save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.

The move comes from the University of East Anglia, which says money from its Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) project will support development work already under way from Essex company Controlled Power Technologies (CPT).

That work includes VTES, an electric supercharger which eliminates turbo-lag, the delay between hitting the accelerator and increasing speed. VTES, according to CPT, makes a 1.2 litre car feel like a 2 litre car, which might help persuade drivers to choose cars with smaller engines, cutting fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Other products include SpeedStart, which allows the engine to be turned off in intermittent traffic but re-starts quickly, making for more efficient energy use, SAGE, an electric compressor which cleans diesel-particulate filters, and TIGERS, an electric generator which recovers waste energy from exhaust gases.

Laura Chellis, LCIF project co-ordinator, said: "CPT is a local company with products that can have a global impact on reducing carbon emissions. We are proud to have such leading-edge low carbon technology companies in our region and are delighted that we can support CPT's commercialisation plans."

CPT chief executive Nick Pascoe said: "Although we are now working on applications around the world, our products and technologies have all been developed by our experienced and growing team of engineers in the East of England and we are proud of our roots here."

"LCIF joins the list of our major shareholders at an exciting stage as we work to bring our more developed products to market. We welcome and appreciate LCIF's support and its recognition of the fruits of our work since the launch of CPT in 2008."

The Low Carbon Innovation Fund, which was launched last year, invests in companies across the east of England. Companies interested in seeking investment should contact Kevin Murphy on 0207 2481506. Further details can be found at The Low Carbon Innovation Fund and Controlled Power Technologies Ltd.

Top Image Credit: © Jon Nightingale