Foresight Vehicle, now administered by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), is the UK's prime knowledge transfer network for the automotive industry. It is a collaboration between industry, academia and Government to identify and demonstrate technologies for sustainable road transport.

Future products and technologies must meet social, economic and environmental goals, satisfying market requirements for mobility, safety, performance, cost and desirability, with the objectives of improving the quality of life and wealth creation in the UK. Version 1.0 of the Foresight Vehicle technology roadmap was developed in 2002 to identify the technology and research themes for road transport, aiming to support UK industry in the globally competitive market for transport products and to provide sustainable mobility for UK citizens. The roadmapping process brought together more than 130 experts from across the road transport sector, from more than 60 organisations. The goal was to use the roadmap structure (Fig. 1) to capture and share the rich set of views about how road vehicle markets, products, systems and technologies will (and could) evolve in the next 20 years.

It is 2 years since the publication of Version 1.0 of the roadmap, which was intended to be kept ‘alive’on an ongoing basis. This version, (Version 2.0), results from a review of the original and incorporates additional views, updating information where appropriate. Additionally, this version seeks to set priority goals for development, obtained from a top-down approach, leading to the major themes requiring attention. It is intended to be a self-contained document, but reference should be made to Version 1.0 to obtain a more complete picture. The roadmap is not intended to be a detailed review of existing and likely technologies, but rather an indicator of the needs for technology development to which an appropriate response can be made by industry and academia.