IDP14: accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles (research and development)

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and Innovate UK via the Faraday Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, is to invest up to £18 million in this competition. This is to enable industry-led research into vehicle technologies that accelerates the transition to zero emission vehicles.

The parties involved in this competition are particularly looking for projects to develop low-cost, highly integrated systems to enable zero emission journeys for cars. They are also looking for zero emission or zero emission capable journeys for medium and heavy goods vehicles.

Your project should focus on identified technical or commercial challenges developing zero and zero emission capable technologies on vehicles, from motorbikes to large trucks.

For the first time in an IDP competition a proportion of the budget will focus on medium and heavy goods vehicles.

The government’s ambition is that nearly all cars and vans on our roads are zero emission by 2050. IDP14 supports the acceleration towards zero emission vehicles through technology development, particularly projects which can reduce system costs significantly.

Zero emission or zero emission capable means zero exhaust pipe emissions or the capability to travel a set minimum distance with zero exhaust pipe emissions. Projects that address well to wheel savings (life cycle analysis) for HGVs will also be in scope.

This competition is looking to fund projects that address the following technical areas:

• electric machines and power electronics
• energy storage and energy management
• lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures
• highly disruptive zero emission technologies
• propulsion for zero emission medium and heavy goods vehicles

Technologies in scope include:

• the electrification of conventional powertrains in passenger cars, such as waste heat recovery systems and hybridisation
• e-powertrains solutions where the project does not include costs related to any conventional engine research and development (R&D) work
• zero emission technologies focus on exploitation routes on conventional powered vehicles, such as light weighting projects

For Medium and heavy goods vehicles (vehicles over 7.5 tonnes), click here. 

All projects must be a collaboration between at least 2 partners. A business must lead the project.

Eligibility

To lead a project you must:

• be a UK based business
• be a business of any size
• carry out your project in the UK
• work in collaboration with others (businesses, research base and third sector)

Funding and project details:

• £15 million for research and development projects. These should focus on the technical and commercial challenges identified in the scope section. This includes up to £5 million from the Faraday Challenge for battery projects that meet the objectives of the Faraday Challenge Fund.
• £3 million for research and development projects. These should focus on zero emission or zero emission capable medium and heavy goods vehicles. This includes those focused on electrifying the main traction power system, auxiliary power systems and vehicle bodies or trailers. R&D projects that deliver significant emissions savings for conventional internal combustion engines for medium and heavy goods vehicles are in scope. However, they must form part of a future zero emission capable HGV vehicle.

Project types

Your project can focus on industrial research or experimental development. This will depend on the challenge.

• Projects should have total costs between £250,000 to £4 million

• For industrial research projects, you could get up to 70% of your eligible project costs if you are an SME.

• For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get up to 45% of your eligible project costs if you are an SME. 

• Projects should last between 12 months and 3 years.