Deadline: 7-Sep-22
The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) is now accepting applications for its Industrializing Net-Zero Automotive Technology Program to provide funding, support and insight for the development of low carbon and net zero automotive technologies.
The aim of this competition is to seek proposals for collaborative R&D projects that design, develop and manufacture technology that will work towards delivering net-zero carbon emission on-vehicle technologies for on-road or off-road vehicles. It aims to support the UK’s transition towards net zero product manufacturing and supply chain in the UK automotive sector.
Your project must:
- support growth and security of the UK’s manufacturing supply chain, increasing capability, whilst improving productivity, efficiency and competitiveness
- deliver vehicle technologies or associated manufacturing processes which support the transition to net zero
- contribute to the UK’s strategic aims in this area, such as the Automotive Council’s Roadmaps
Themes
You must consider which technology or technologies best represent your project and rank them in order of their significance and impact to your project. The one ranked first must be the lead technology.
- electric machines and power electronics
- energy storage and energy management
- lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures
- fuel cell and associated balance of plant
- thermal propulsion systems
- significant reduction in vehicle development timescales
- digitalisation for development of low carbon vehicle innovation
Focus Areas
Your project must advance technologies in one or more of the following areas:
- batteries, their components, management and integration systems
- fuel cell and associated balance of plant
- electric machines
- power electronics
- fossil fuel free (at the point of use) internal combustion
- hydrogen storage and management systems
- manufacturing processes associated with industrialising relevant net-zero technologies
- direct recycling methods resulting in complete recovery of critical materials
- digitalisation leveraged during the development, testing, production or in-service phases
Funding Information
Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £5 million and £40 million. Your project must be a minimum of 50% match-funded, with a suggested maximum number of six partners.
Eligibility Criteria
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To lead a project your organisation must:
- be a UK registered business of any size
- have an active registered business base in the UK
- be a grant recipient
- involve at least one grant claiming micro small or medium enterprise (SME) if the lead is not one
- include in your consortium a vehicle manufacturer or Tier 1 supplier who supplies parts directly to an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
- collaborate with others
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Your project must:
- have total costs between £5 million and £40 million
- be a minimum of 50% match-funded
- start by 1 March 2023
- last between 18 and 42 months
- carry out its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
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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)
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Non-UK registered businesses and research organisations are only eligible to apply for funding if:
- they set up an active UK-registered business where the funded project work will be carried out
- provide evidence of an intention to expand their R&D activity in the UK during and after the project
- Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once accepted, partners will be asked to log in or to create an account and enter their own project costs into the Innovation Funding Service.
- The lead and at least one other organisation must claim funding by entering their costs during the application.
- Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example non-UK businesses. Their costs will count towards the total project costs.
Criteria
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The economic benefit of your project will be assessed on criteria including but not limited to:
- scale and impact on the UK economy
- foreign investment anchored in the UK
- jobs created or safeguarded
- upskilling of workforce
- automotive supply chain in the UK
- lifetime environmental impact of the vehicle
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Your proposal must evidence:
- a clear route to market exploitation, including IP generated for the UK
- a credible consortium-led approach to the project, agreed in principle and able to proceed to a formal collaborative agreement
- what would happen should the project not be funded
- Projects will be encouraged to disseminate their results to bring benefit to the wider UK automotive industry'.
For more information, visit APC.
For more information, visit https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1238/overview/2cade740-0acb-498c-a406-920377270e3a
