Key Features
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £1 billion for capital centric investment projects that help industrialise the electrified automotive supply chain at scale in the UK.
Programme: Automotive Transformation Fund
Award: Share of up to £1 billion
Opens: 6th Feb 2023
Closes: 1st Mar 2023
The Transformation Fund (ATF) is an Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) programme that aims to establish a competitive and sustainable UK supply chain.
It offers a share of up to £1 billion of funding for capital and associated industrial research projects. This will be to support the industrialisation of a high value, electrified automotive supply at scale in the UK.
This is an expression of interest (EoI) competition. You must have a successful application in this competition before you can be invited to apply to the full stage competition. Any application to the full stage competition will be subject to a separate assessment, with no guarantee of funding support.
Your project must support the industrialisation at scale of an electrified automotive supply chain. It must be appropriate and in proportion to the planned objectives and prioritisation of the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF).
You should be looking to transform the automotive industry through significant business or production expansion. We expect your project to be centred around a product, process or technology that you have already demonstrated and have confirmed as technically and economically feasible.
Your application can be for:
Your proposal must prioritise the scale up in areas mentioned in the Automotive Transformation Strategy for an electrified supply chain. Your project must prioritise scale up and focus on one or more of the following:
Your project must:
Only projects which score well against these criteria will receive funding from the ATF.
The ATF will prioritise support to projects that:
The Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) will fund a portfolio of projects, across the technologies listed in the specific themes section. This portfolio and the technologies within are designed to be complimentary to the overall aim of the ATF. There may be occasions where a lower scoring project is supported, superseding a higher scoring application.
The APC can help you check whether your project fits the Automotive Transformation Fund. Contact the APC team at ATF@apcuk.co.uk to find out more.
Your project must focus on one or more of the following:
Batteries including cells (’gigafactories’)
Electric motors and drives
Power electronics
Fuel cells
Upstream Supply Chain including:
The Automotive Transformation Fund provides detailed information on the specific themes of this competition.
In the full stage competition the Automotive Transformation Fund will fund:
Your total project costs and project duration must be strongly aligned to the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). To be eligible your project must request a minimum of £1 million in grant against your total eligible project costs.
To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:
More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.
Non-UK businesses can apply to this expression of interest (EoI) competition in reference to activities they are considering undertaking in the UK. The business must be registered in the UK before any funding can be awarded.
Non-UK businesses can be invited to partner in this expression of interest (EoI) competition in reference to activities they are considering undertaking in the UK. The business must be registered in the UK before any funding can be awarded.
Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once accepted, partners will be asked to login or to create an account and enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.
If you are a collaboration the lead and at least one other organisation must request funding when entering their costs during the application.
If you are working in a collaboration the lead and at least one other organisation must claim any funding awarded through the BEIS Central Grants & Loans Team.
Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses.
Under current restrictions, this competition will not fund any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Russian or Belarusian entity as lead, partner or subcontractor. This includes any goods or services originating from a Russian or Belarusian source.
Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.
Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.
You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you could not use suppliers from the UK.
There are no restrictions on the number of applications a business can lead or collaborate on in this EoI stage of the competition.
If not leading, there are no restrictions on the number of applications an organisation can collaborate on.
You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.
ATF are not funding projects that:
ATF cannot fund projects that are:
ATF are not funding capital investment that:
ATF are not funding associated R&D activity for:
ATF are not funding projects that are only R&D.
Up to £1 billion has been allocated to fund capital focused projects in this competition.
No funding is awarded at this EoI stage. Successful applicants from this EoI stage will be invited to a second full stage ATF competition. Funding for the full stage will be in the form of a grant.
Capital investment projects
Capital investment projects will be managed through the BEIS Central Grants & Loans Team. For capital investment projects the grant available is dependent on the proposed project and will be determined during the second stage of the application process.
The grant requested should be the minimum required to ensure sustainability of the investment. Funding levels for associated R&D costs are dependent on the size of your organisation. Further information on the process will be provided at the full stage.
For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance. This is a change from the EU definition unless you are applying under State aid.
If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.
Research participation
Research organisation participation is allowed where research is integral to your capital centric project.
The research organisations undertaking non-economic activity as part of the project can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation undertaking non-economic activity, this maximum is shared between them.
Of that 30% you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:
Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.
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