Driverless car test track could bring 1,800 jobs to Leicestershire

The track would be the first of its kind in the UK

Plans for a £26m test track for driverless vehicles that would bring 1,200 jobs to Leicestershire have been submitted to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

HORIBA-MIRA wants to build a ‘TIC-IT’ development that will deliver a new, high-speed test track facility – the first of its kind in the UK. It will consist of a 1.2m sq ft track near on 83 acres of land next to its existing vehicle testing centre at Higham-on-the-Hill near Hinckley.

A planning document will the application reads: “This will constitute the first CAV (connected and autonomous vehicle) testing facility within the UK and will complemeny the wide MIRA facilities on the site, maximising its attraction to future automotive research and development businesses and existing services.”

If given the go-ahead, the scheme will create; 250 jobs on MIRA Technology Park; 205 indirect jobs at the Park in indirect sectors; an estimated 100 construction jobs during development; around 1,350 additional jobs in the region as a result of the facility; the safeguarding of 25 jobs; two new CAV-orientated companies to MIRA Technolocay PArk each year; and the recruitment of around 12 CAV researchers, graduates, technicians and apprentices at the Park.

The test track would be used 24 hours a day, five days a week.

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