Driving the Electric Revolution

The Driving the Electric Revolution challenge realised a co-investment of £405 million, focusing on advancing the UK’s capabilities in power electronics, machines & drives (PEMD). It achieved a funding leverage of nearly £16 for every £1 invested. The programme was part of the UK’s wider investment to achieve a Net Zero economy, positioning the UK as a global leader in electrification.

About Driving the Electric Revolution

Driving the Electric Revolution aimed to accelerate electrification across sectors, positioning the UK as a leader in Power Electronics, Machines, and Drives (PEMD). This initiative enhanced supply chains, productivity and efficiency, supporting net-zero goals and green economic growth in transport, energy and industry.

Its projects facilitate future improvements in supply chain capability, productivity, capacity, quality, & efficiency, support the UK’s continued push towards net-zero carbon, and catalyse the green economic recovery in transport, energy & industrial sectors.

Developing this competency in the UK will seize the economic opportunities in the global transition to clean technologies and electrification and create growth and highly skilled jobs across the UK.

Reports

• The UKRI DER Annual Reports directory includes annual reports, in-depth reviews of the Driving the Electric Revolution challenge, case studies, and funded projects.
• Driving the Electric Revolution: Metals Technology Deep Dive Report provides industry insights into metals and their importance in the sustainable materials sector and in advancing semiconductor technologies.
• Driving the Electric Revolution: UK Power Semiconductors Landscape Report highlights the UK’s capabilities and needs for power semiconductors.
• UK supply chain opportunity in materials for permanent magnets report reviews the rare-earth materials and magnet supply chain opportunity for the UK. To access the presentation and the report.
• Driving the Electric Revolution Engage with…Webinar Highlights includes a selection of ‘Engage with…’ webinars from the 50 hosted by Innovate UK Business Connect in support of the Driving the Electric Revolution challenge.
• Driving the Electric Revolution in the AgriFood sector report highlights the opportunities and challenges of electrifying the agricultural and food sectors.

Previous Events

• Innovate UK exhibited DER electrification technologies at Materials and Manufacturing Showcase 2025.
• Innovate UK showcased twenty-five organisations who received DER funding at Advanced Engineering 2024. Watch the Advanced Engineering highlights and exhibitor interviews.
• Engage with…LIVE! 2023, Birmingham showcased the UK’s Power Electronics Machines and Drives (PEMD) industry technologies that support the push towards a net zero carbon economy.
• At Engage with…LIVE! 2022 in Sheffield,organisations networked and discussed opportunities to boost electrification and adoption of clean technologies. View event highlights and watch event presentations.
• Driving the Electric Revolution’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion webinar series in 2022 was dedicated to championing EDI in engineering by tackling equality, diversity and inclusion challenges and opportunities within the Power Electronics, Machines and Drives sector.

Engage With… Electrifying Interviews

These electrifying interviews feature discussions with specialist organisations about their electronic systems, industrial technologies, and PEMD manufacturing processes. Additional interviews with employees at McLaren Applied provided insights into the work they are undertaking, their early career pathways, and their enthusiasm for skills development – demonstrating that PEMD is a relevant and exciting career choice.

Engage with… Webinars

Initiated at the very start of the Covid-19 pandemic, these webinars enabled PEMD organisations to continue meeting, engaging, and communicating. Between 2020 and 2022 fifty-seven Engage with… Webinars were attended by 3,057 people, who asked 565 questions that directly led to new business opportunities.

Historic funding competitions

• PEMD Scale-up competition, December 2022, invested up to £5 million to enable UK businesses to adopt manufacturing best-practice (Strand 1) and to scale-up manufacturing process development (Strand 2) with between £50K and £400k of funding available per project.
• Building Talent for the Future 2 competition, April 2022, invested up to £4.5 million for the creation of access to training courses, educational materials, and outreach resources through online and in-person learning to support PEMD skills and supply chains
• PEMD Skills Hub competition, December 2021, provided signposting and access to existing and new training courses for learners & businesses, materials for educators, and engaging information for outreach by curating a range of online and face-to-face courses, all to support skills and training across PEMD manufacturing and supply chains in the UK.
• The Building Talent for the Future competition, September 2021, covered project costs of up to £25,000 to fund several ideas that quickly fill immediate gaps in skills, talent and training for the PEMD industry.
• The Supply Chains for Net Zero competition, June 2021, invested up to £22 million in innovation projects to facilitate the UK’s niche and volume supply chain and manufacturing capability growth in PEMD.
• The Catalysing Green Innovation competition, July 2020, invested up to £5 million in innovation projects to support net zero by catalysing the green economic recovery in transport, energy and industrial sectors.
• The High-Volume consultation, February 2020, was a CR&D Scoping Workshop held in Derby.
• The Niche manufacturing consultation, February 2020, was a CR&D Scoping Workshop held in Derby.
• The Building Regional Centres of Excellence competition, October 2019, awarded up to £30 million to build regional centres of excellence for the development, prototyping and scale-up of power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) technologies.
• The Accelerated Supply Chain Development competition, July 2019, invested up to £19million across two strands in innovation projects to develop PEMD supply chains in the UK.

Join LinkedIn group

Continue discussions into PEMD technologies via the LinkedIn Community Group.