Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the Department for Transport to invest up to £140 million in innovation projects. As part of the Zero Emission Road Freight (ZERFT) Demonstration programme, this competition will focus on the largest heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). The programme will support government’s commitment to end sales of all new, non-zero emission HGVs by 2040 and enable continued cross border freight.

Scope

The aim of this competition, as part of the Zero Emission Road Freight Demonstration programme, is to focus on the largest heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

Innovate UK expect to fund up to 5 demonstrations covering all technologies that are in scope, across the three strands of this competition. We are looking for projects that include multiple vehicle and infrastructure suppliers and that demonstrate a wide range of duty cycles with multiple freight operators.

The programme will fund costs associated with project delivery, vehicle access and recharging infrastructure during the period from when the project starts, up until 31 March 2025. All vehicles and infrastructure funded must be demonstrated for 5 years.

Innovate UK encourages and is particularly interested in proposals with micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) collaborative involvement.

This strand will fund multi-year on-road demonstrations of battery electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) as part of your standard freight operations.

Your project’s size must enable a demonstration of at least 25 trucks split between at least 2 operators and supported by at least 3 recharging locations. Your application must meet this scale and have a grant funding request of between £20 million and £90 million.

Your proposal must:

• define the demonstration that you plan to conduct, including all associated costs and the range of operational use cases that you will demonstrate
• focus on long-haul articulated heavy goods vehicles (40-44t gross vehicle weight) and developing a sustainable and scalable approach to zero emission road freight
• present a well-rounded and industrially driven consortium capable of rapid deployment
• evidence that you can acquire the vehicles and supply the infrastructure needed to carry out a successful demonstration in the required timeframe
• define a demonstration which has a viable route to expanding nationally and internationally, as part of your long term strategy to decarbonise this sector

Demonstration-specific requirements

You must:

• conduct an ambitious demonstration with focus on the most difficult to decarbonise HGV applications, including long-haul and long-duration high speed operations
• focus on high utilisation of vehicles and infrastructure, and potential multi-shift operations, to maximise value for money, explore commercial viability and inform an optimal Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
• operate zero emission HGVs in various types of locations, whilst performing a range of duty cycles to reflect the variety in HGV operations
• concentrate some vehicles around your key locations or infrastructure to explore factors associated with future high saturation deployments, fully exploring the boundaries and capabilities of the technology and infrastructure
• ensure all vehicles funded in your project are in operation by 31st March 2025, vehicles can be deployed earlier or in stages if desired
• ensure adequate training is provided for all those using the vehicles or infrastructure
• ensure there are appropriate repair and maintenance provisions for your vehicles and infrastructure
• share your project’s learning before, during and after your demonstration, both independently and by supporting activities organised by the funders or their agents
• collaborate fully with organisations responsible for regulation, safety and incident response to conduct a safe demonstration
• maximise UK value in terms of supply chain and deployment

International freight operations are acceptable, but we will not fund infrastructure or operations originating outside the UK.

Successful projects and operators demonstrating vehicles will be required to engage with contractors from Innovate UK and Department for Transport (DfT). They are independently evaluating the zero emission road freight demonstrations, see background and supporting information.

Vehicle-specific requirements

You must:

• focus on use of state of the art vehicles that can be scaled, such as those produced by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
• use articulated HGVs, specifically 6×2 or 4×2 axle tractors and semi-trailers with 40-44t gross vehicle weight (GVW)
• only use battery electric HGVs
• ensure any ancillary equipment is zero emission in use, including cabin heaters and trailer refrigeration units
• ensure vehicles are capable of long haul operations
• include usage of systems which provide vehicle traction power to ancillary equipment, for example power take-off (PTO)
• ensure demonstrated vehicles meet all safety, regulatory and legal requirements

Infrastructure-specific requirements

You must:

• ensure all proposed infrastructure funded through the programme is accessible to other operators outside the consortia by appointment
• ensure infrastructure is located to enable a variety of operations including on-route recharging
• utilise a proportion of state-of-the-art infrastructure, with the theoretical capability of charging vehicles at around 1MW DC peak
• meet all safety, regulatory and legal requirements
• align with current and emerging international standards
• describe any decommissioning that is required at the conclusion of the demonstration (infrastructure which can viably be repurposed does not require decommissioning)

Projects can use existing or planned infrastructure where it is compatible with their demonstration and appropriate for long haul HGVs.

Innovate UK encourage projects to demonstrate links to other initiatives, such as the OFGEM Strategic Innovation Fund.

You can propose a demonstration using a proportion of vehicles that are not type approved or are produced by an organisation with an annual production intent of less than 500 vehicles.

The following limits are set:

• retrofitted diesel (or internal combustion engine) vehicles at 10% of the vehicles demonstrated
• vehicles produced using a new ‘glider’ chassis at 20% of the vehicles demonstrated, or up to 30% if there are no retrofit vehicles demonstrated

You must provide a clear justification that this approach allows you to demonstrate best in class technology, maximise UK content, and that production can be scaled to enable rapid deployment of the core technology.

You can downplate a maximum of 30% of your 40-44t GVW demonstration vehicles or operate them exclusively for lighter loads. This must be part of a well justified plan to demonstrate technical and operational capability of the core zero emission HGV technology, particularly where these are the first vehicles to be demonstrated. These vehicles must be used as a pathfinder towards heavier vehicles.

Your demonstration can use rigid HGVs at a maximum of 5% of your deployment. It must be part of a well justified approach to explore a mainstream use case or duty cycle.

Innovate UK will fund industrial research projects, as defined in the guidance on categories of research.