Innovate UK funding £83 million in Automotive R&D
Innovate UK, the UK’s funding agency, is offering up to £83 million in automotive research and development funding through three initiatives, including – a low emission freight & logistics trial, a competition to develop low emission vehicle technology (TRL3 to TRL5/6), and project funding of up to £35 million for connected and automated driving.
Competition brief: low emission freight and logistics trial
The aim of this competition is to trial or develop low emission vehicles in the freight, logistics, utilities and emergency industries. The competition has 2 streams. Innovate UK will fund industry-led research trials of innovative vehicles or on-vehicle technologies. These must reduce real-world emissions compared with MY16 (model year 2016) series production vehicles.
Following the research trials, operators will have first-hand experience of low emission vehicles. They will be able to make informed decisions on future fleet mix in the short to medium term. The ultimate aim is to speed up the adoption of low emission vehicles in these 4 industries.
Stream 2 is for projects to develop innovative and disruptive on-vehicle technology, off-vehicle systems or new business models. These must reduce emissions. Projects based on translating technologies from other applications are also in scope.
Projects may be a combination of desk-based research, lab demonstration and on-vehicle demonstration. Projects that do not include on-vehicle demonstration must show a clear route to market. The end customer must be able to show the business case for on-vehicle demonstration and a feasible business model for fleet operation.
Innovate UK have allocated up to £24 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. For Stream 1, research trials of innovative vehicles: All projects must be collaborative and involve a vehicle operator. A business must lead the project. Up to £19 million of grant funding has been allocated for these projects. Projects should last between 18 months and 2 years, with vehicle trials of at least one year. Projects should range in size from total eligible costs of £500,000 to £5 million. We may consider projects outside these ranges. Research organisations must represent no more than 30% of the total project costs.
For Stream 2, innovative and disruptive technology, systems or business models: All projects must be collaborative and involve a vehicle operator. A business must lead the project. Up to £5 million grant funding has been allocated for these projects. Projects should last no more than one year and range in size from total eligible costs of £250,000 to £5 million. Research organisations must represent no more than 50% of the total project costs.
For more information, please click here.
Funding competition: low emission vehicle systems IDP13
The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK are to invest up to £24 million to enable industry-led research into vehicle technology that provides significant reductions in real-world emissions. This is the thirteenth competition in the Integrated Delivery Programme (IDP) series.
In particular, we are looking for projects developing low-cost, highly integrated systems enabling zero emission journeys. This competition is in 3 streams. Stream 1 will fund collaborative technical feasibility studies. These should be for disruptive technology that can achieve significant emissions savings from road vehicles. We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £200,000 to £500,000. Projects should last no more than 1 year.
Stream 2 will fund collaborative research and development projects. These should focus on attaining a proof of concept for technology that can achieve significant emissions reductions from road vehicles. OLEV is particularly keen to support technologies that provide zero tailpipe emission miles. This should be a technical and commercial proof of concept. We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £2 million to £4 million. Projects should last between 18 months and 3 years.
Stream 3 will fund collaborative research and development projects that can produce results within 1 year. These should focus on generating significant emissions savings from road vehicles. In this stream, projects must be ready for a fast delivery within a fixed 1-year timeframe. Projects must show rapid progression towards commercial success.
For more information, please click here.
Connected and autonomous vehicles: apply for business funding
The Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and Innovate UK are inviting businesses to apply for innovation project funding of up to £35 million.
Projects need to come up with technical solutions for connected and autonomous vehicle features. These features should provide real-world benefits to users. This includes how these vehicles will work as part of a wider transport system. Proposals must show a clear commercial benefit.
Funding for this competition comes from CCAV (up to £30 million) and Innovate UK (£5 million).
The Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles is a joint policy unit. It was set up by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategyand the Department for Transport. The aim of CCAV is to help ensure that the UK is a world leader in developing and testing connected and autonomous vehicles.
This competition is in 4 streams. Stream 1 will fund a large-scale challenge to develop and demonstrate a vehicle operating at SAE level 4 automation. We expect to fund 1 or 2 projects. We expect projects to have total costs of £15 million to £30 million. Projects should last between 18 and 30 months.
These streams will fund feasibility studies and industrial research and development projects. We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £250,000 to £5 million. Projects should last between 12 and 30 months.
For more information, please click here.
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