New funding for automotive – first details

This morning, Innovate UK announced the broad outlines of expanded funding for UK automotive, called DRIVE35 (Driving Research and Investment in Vehicle Electrification). The funding totals are:

·       £2bn up to 2030

·       £500m up to 2035

Up to now, there have been two key funding streams:

·       APC (Advanced Propulsion Centre) for R&D

·       ATF (Automotive Transformation Fund) for volume manufacturing of components for EVs

This will expand to three streams:

·       Innovation (APC): 500K - £25m, project duration 12 to 36 months

·       Scale Up: 750K - £20m, project duration 12 to 72 months

·       Transformation (ATF): figures dependent on specific project

The key, and very welcome, change is the new Scale Up fund (details and name TBA). The idea of the fund is that it will pay for pilot production facilities. These will enable companies to demonstrate that their new products are viable, making it easier to attract commercial partners and investors.

It addresses the key gap in the UK. Every size of company can get money to develop new technology from the APC, and major players can access the ATF, but small companies previously had little help with scaling up. This was a problem that the industry spent many years trying to explain to previous governments, but to no avail. Hats of to the new Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, for finally addressing the issue.

More details of the new funding schemes are due to be announced on July 16th. We’ll keep you posted.