DRIVE35 Innovation Fund: Collaborate 3

Key Features

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £20 million for late stage collaborative research and development projects. Projects will support the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles and a pathway to a net zero automotive industry.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £20 million

Opens: 26th Jun 2026

Closes: 16th Sep 2026

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Grant Overview

Innovate UK and the Department for Business and Trade are investing up to £20 million in the DRIVE35 programme which is aimed at transforming the UK’s automotive industry.

Grant Scope

The aim of this competition is to support R&D projects that design, develop and manufacture strategically important technologies in the automotive sector. Projects will support the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles and a pathway to net zero automotive industry.

Projects must focus on one of more or the following specific themes:

  • Theme 1: Promote zero emission vehicle technologies
  • Theme 2: Enhance manufacturing competitiveness
  • Theme 3: Future vehicle innovation – Software defined vehicles (SDV) and Electrical/Electronic (E/E) architectures

Eligibility Critera

To be eligible for this grant, projects must have a total grant funding request of between £2.5 million and £20 million with projects lasting between 18 and 36 months. Projects must start by 1st May 2027, be collaborative and be minimum 50% match funded.

Lead Organisation: To lead a collaborative project, organisations must be a UK registered business of any size, collaborate with other UK registered organisations, be a grant claiming recipient and include a vehicle manufacture or Tier 1 supplier who supplies parts directly to an OEM in your consortium. Consortiums must contain at least one UK registered micro, small or medium sized enterprise claiming grant funding on this application. Academic institutions cannot lead an application.

Project Team: To collaborate with a lead, organisations must be a UK registered business of any size, academic institution, charity, not for profit, public sector organisation or RTO.

Non-funded partners: Projects can include organisations that do not claim funding for their work on a project. These costs need to be covered from their own resources and can include UK, EU and other non-UK organisations. Non-UK partners are permitted to carry out work within their home countries and exploit results outside the UK.

Subcontractors: Subcontractors are allowed in this and can be from anywhere in the UK. Overseas subcontractors can be used, but you must state why UK subcontractors could not be used in your application.

Number of applications: There is no limit to the number of applications an organisation can be involved in.

Previous applications: Previously submitted applications can be used in this competition.

Grant Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund the following projects:

  • Projects requesting more than 50% grant for total project costs
  • Projects focused on business processes not directly involved in the design, test, validation, recycle or reuse of manufacture of vehicles
  • Projects including the design, development, integration, use, test or direct manufacturing of automated driving systems
  • Projects only focused on the development of clean fuels
  • Projects not aligned with the UK net zero research innovation framework
  • Projects developing solutions such as e-Scooters or e-Bikes, although two wheel is in scope

Grant Funding

Innovate UK have allocated up to £20 million to fund innovation projects. Funding will be in the form of a grant.

Total grant funding requests must be no more than £20 million and no more than 50% of your total eligible project costs. This is regardless of your individual partners’ grant claims.

A minimum of 70% of your project’s total project costs must be incurred by commercial organisations.

The balance between your total eligible project costs and the amount of grant awarded must be funded by the organisation receiving the grant.

For industrial research projects, you can 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

For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation
  • up to 35% if you are a medium sized organisation
  • up to 25% if you are a large organisation

Research participation

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 can get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:

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

Eligibility criteria for claiming 80% of FEC funding

  1. Research organisations must use the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) method as the Je-S form has now been decommissioned.
  2. We pay 100% of the 80% Full Economic Cost (FEC). On IFS only enter the 80% being claimed.

The Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC)

A 3.5% industrial contribution is payable to the APC by all partners on grant received.

For further information on this competition, please see full details. 

Full competition details

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