Faraday Battery Challenge: Innovation R&D, round 2

This competition is the second round of innovation funding for the Faraday Battery Challenge, part of the government’s Industrial Strategy.

Projects must support the overall goal of the Faraday Battery Challenge. This goal is for the UK to become a global leader in the design, development and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. Successful projects will increase productivity, competitiveness and growth for UK businesses.

In line with the objectives of the Faraday Battery Challenge, we are looking to fund projects that address the following technical and supply chain challenges:

• cost: cost reduction at the cell and pack level
• energy density: increasing Wh/kg per cell
• power density: increasing kW/kg per pack
• safety: eliminate thermal runaway risks for enhanced safety
• first life: lengthen cell and pack life
• temperature: broaden the
• temperature ranges that a pack efficiently operates at
• predictability: new models to better predict range and battery health
• recyclability: towards 95% pack recyclability, such as by design, reuse or recycling
• innovation in cell, module and pack production
• integration of cells into modules, packs and vehicles
• battery management systems
• enabling fast charging
• projects that stimulate and broaden innovation in the manufacture, performance and supply of materials (such as electrodes, electrolytes, binders, separators, current collectors, cell casings and components for cell integration into modules and packs)

Specific Themes 

The competition particularly encourages applications that:

• show a clear path towards manufacture and commercial opportunity, at scale, in the UK
• focus on maximising UK return from the battery supply value chain, for example in the manufacture and IP related to electrodes
• support all aspects of the UK’s automotive sector battery supply chain, including niche vehicles and off highway
• have a clear focus on commercialisation in the UK at high volume
• bring new investment and new businesses in to the sector in the UK

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding you must:

• be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
• carry out your project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from the UK
• work in collaboration with others (businesses, research base or third sector)
• All projects must involve an SME

Funding 

Innovate UK via the Faraday Battery Challenge has allocated up to £23 million to fund collaborative research and development projects in this competition.

Projects should address the technical and commercial challenges identified in the scope section. Projects must clearly show how their technology is drawing from fundamental research and can be scaled up. You should show how the project builds a future UK supply chain for automotive traction battery applications.

Project Size 

Your project’s total costs should be between £500k and £15m. Projects should last up to 30 months.  expect projects to be completed by March 2021.

Project types

• For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to 70% if you are an SME.
• For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to 45% if you are an SME.