Automotive Transformation Fund Feasibility Studies: Round 4
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million. This is for business case feasibility studies to support scale up of the UK’s zero emission automotive supply chain.
The Automotive Transformation Fund supports the industrialisation at scale of a high-value electrified automotive supply chain in the UK.
The aim of this competition is to fund feasibility studies which must produce a decision-ready business case. This is in preparation for projects which will develop large scale manufacturing facilities in the UK.
We are seeking proposals from single organisations or consortiums for business case feasibility studies up to the grant value of £350,000.
(For manufacturing processes which are ready for scale-up, the Scale up Readiness Validation 2 funding may be more appropriate: this offers grants of £750k-£2m and has the same closing dates.)
The resulting projects must support the UK automotive industry in:
- increasing business confidence in making large scale manufacturing investments
- building electrified vehicle supply chains
Eligibility
Your project must:
- have a grant funding request between £100,000 and £350,000
- provide a detailed feasibility study and business case, to include reasons to aid future investment
- start by 1 November 2023
- last between 6 and 9 months
- carry out all of its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
To lead a project or work alone, your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.
To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following UK registered:
- business of any size
- academic institution
- charity
- not for profit
- public sector organisation
- research and technology organisation (RTO)
There are no restrictions on the number of applications on which an eligible organisation can lead or partner in. Successful applicants will be asked to confirm you have the capacity to run multiple projects simultaneously.
Scope
The aim of this competition is to fund feasibility studies which must produce a decision-ready business case. This is in preparation for projects which will develop large scale manufacturing facilities in the UK.
The Automotive Transformation Fund will support the industrialisation at scale of a high value automotive supply chain for net zero technologies in the UK. More information on the Automotive Transformation Fund can be found on the APC website.
Your projects must produce a suitably detailed and reasoned business case to aid a future investment decision. 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
- be commercialised within 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
Specific themes
Your business case must prioritise the scale up in areas mentioned in the Automotive Transformation Fund Strategy for an electrified supply chain.
Your project must prioritise scale up and can focus on but not be limited to:
Batteries, including cells and gigafactories
- cathode materials and manufacturing
- anode materials and manufacturing
- electrolyte
- cell assembly components, including separators
- module to pack
- cell to pack
Electric motors and drives
- magnet materials and manufacturing
- electrical steel materials and manufacturing
- electrical machine assembly
- drive line components
- assembly and test into complete drive unit
Power electronics
- wide band gap semi-conductors
- sensors
- passives
- power electronics assembly
Fuel cells
- membrane electrode assembly (MEA)
- fuel cell stack assembly
- storage tanks
Recycling
- batteries
- electric motors and drives
- power electronics and fuel cells, for example where there is a move towards circular economy, particularly for critical materials
Sectors in scope can include the supply chain for on and off-road vehicles, agriculture, heavy duty and mining.
Briefing and support
If you would like help to find a collaboration partner, contact Innovate UK KTN’s Transport team.