Automotive Transformation Fund Feasibility Studies: Round 3

Key Features

Organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million for business case feasibility studies to support scale up of the UK’s zero emission automotive supply chain.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £10 million

Opens: 24th Jan 2022

Closes: 9th Mar 2022

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

The Automotive Transformation Fund is delivered by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and partners, Innovate UK, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Department for International Trade (DIT). It supports the industrialisation at scale of a high-value electrified automotive supply chain in the UK.

Scope

This competition is to support companies in the development of an investment business case to secure large scale automotive supply chain manufacturing in the UK.

These business case feasibility studies must:

  • result in a detailed business case enabling a decision either to invest in the project, and therefore the UK, or showing clearly the additional steps or measures to do so
  • prioritise the automotive sector, but this does not exclude spill over use in other sectors
  • deliver a closeout report and attend a meeting with APC, to review the business case, its outcomes and next steps, prior to closure and payment of the final claim

Your business case 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 can focus on but not be limited to:

  • batteries, including cells (gigafactories)
  • electric motors and drives
  • power electronics
  • fuel cells and on-vehicle hydrogen storage
  • upstream supply chain for: batteries including cells, electric motors and drives, power electronics or fuel cells and on-vehicle hydrogen storage

Exclusions

Innovate UK are not funding projects which are:

  • not aligned with the aims of the Automotive Transformation Fund
  • purely R&D
  • technical feasibility studies, except where validating UK compatibility and incidental to the economic viability study
  • not of sustained benefit to the automotive sector primarily
  • centred on technologies or processes which are not mature and ready to scale at pace
  • focussed primarily on fossil-fuelled internal combustion technology
  • focussed primarily on the use of digital or data technologies
  • centred on low carbon fuels for combustion engines
  • centred around off-vehicle charging infrastructure
  • dependent on export performance
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage

Eligibility

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:

  • be a UK registered business of any size
  • be a grant recipient
  • carry out its project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

Non-UK registered companies and research organisations are eligible to apply for funding as a lead or part of a project team if they:

  • set up an active UK registered business before they start their project
  • carry out all funded work in the UK
  • meet all other criteria stated above

Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must:

If collaborative, the lead and at least one other organisation must claim funding by entering their costs during the application.

Funding Costs

The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) have allocated up to £10 million to fund innovation projects in this competition.

You must request the minimum amount of funding needed for your project.

If the majority of your organisation’s work on the project is commercial or economic, your funding request must not exceed the limits below. These limits apply even if your organisation normally acts non-economically.

For feasibility studies you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
  • up to 50% if you are a large organisation

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:

  • 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you are a Je-s registered institution such as an academic
  • 100% of your eligible project costs if you are an RTO, charity, not-for-profit organisation, public sector organisation or research organisation

APC levy

A 3% levy is payable to the APC by all partners on grant received.

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