Funding of up to £33 million for UK-registered organisations for late-stage collaborative research and development projects, supporting UK zero emission vehicles and net zero automotive industry.
This competition opens on 5 January 2026 and closes at 11am on 18 March 2026.
Who it is for
This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a collaborative project your organisation must
- be a UK-registered business of any size
- collaborate with other UK-registered organisations
- be a grant claiming recipient
- include in your consortium a vehicle manufacturer or Tier 1 supplier who supplies parts directly to an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
- the consortium must contain at least one UK-registered micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) claiming grant funding on this application
Your project must
- have total grant funding request of between £2.5 million and £25 million
- be late-stage R&D targeting direct commercialisation at the end of the project
- be a minimum of 50% match funded (e.g. if you are asking for £2.5 million in grant your total eligible project costs must be a minimum of £5 million)
- align to at least one of the three scope themes
- be achieving TRL 7-8 or MRL 6-7 by completion, based on published Automotive Technology and Manufacturing Readiness Levels
- last between 18 and 36 months
- carry out all of its project work in the UK
- intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
- start by 1 October 2026
Support you can get
This competition aims to support R&D projects that design, develop and manufacture strategically important technologies in the automotive sector. These projects will support the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles and a pathway to a net zero automotive industry.
This competition is split into two strands
- Strand 1 DRIVE35 Innovation Fund Collaborate (this strand)
- Strand 2 DRIVE35 Innovation Fund Demonstrate
Strand 1 aims to support collaborative R&D projects that design, develop and enable manufacture of technologies which target post project commercialisation.
For industrial research projects, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of
- up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation
- up to 60% if you are a medium-sized organisation
- up to 50% if you are a large organisation
For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of
- up to 45% if you are a micro or small organisation
- up to 35% if you are a medium-sized organisation
- up to 25% if you are a large organisation
How to apply
Innovation Funding Service website
Support organisers
- Advanced Propulsion Centre
- Department for Business and Trade
- Innovate UK
Contact
Innovate UK
Phone
0300 321 4357
Next Steps
on the Innovation Funding Service website
Published
07 January 2026
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