Wrightbus is to invest £25m in research to develop “next-generation” electric and hydrogen vehicles.

The investment aims to be “transformative in cutting emissions and creating skilled local jobs to grow our economy” says the Northern Ireland based firm.

The funding will see the firm invest £10m in developing its double and single decker electric bus range Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner, which can already travel up to 200 miles on a single charge.

In addition, £5 million will be used to develop the UK’s first hydrogen-powered coach due for release within 18 months. It is hoped this will be able to travel up to 1,000km on a single refuel.

Another £5 million will be used for product validation “so that UK-manufactured buses set new global standards for reliability and performance”.

Also, £5 million will be used to develop vehicle monitoring to further improve efficiency, lower costs and help optimise routes “and driving down operating expenses using predictive maintenance based on AI algorithms”.

The move has been welcomed by the UK government’s science secretary Peter Kyle.

“Public investment alone is not enough to ensure British businesses remain at the cutting edge of global industries,” said Kyle.

“Wrightbus is proof that businesses backing R&D deliver real-world impact – for both the company themselves and the local region - creating new high-quality jobs, strengthening supply chains across sectors and delivering the new industries of the future.”

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