Automotive Transformation Fund expression of interest: February 2021

The Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) is a new programme that aims to establish a competitive and sustainable UK supply chain.

It offers a share of up to £1 billion of funding for capital and associated industrial research projects. This will be to support the industrialisation of a high value, electrified automotive supply at scale in the UK.

This is an expression of interest (EoI) competition. If your application is successful you will be invited to apply to a full stage competition strand when it is published.

Total eligible project costs and project duration must be appropriate and in proportion to the planned objectives and prioritisation of the Automotive Transformation Fund.

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size
• carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• address the requirements of the Automotive Transformation Fund

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business, academic institution, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
• carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• be invited by the lead organisation

If you are working in a collaboration the lead and at least one other organisation must claim funding through the BEIS Capital Team.

Your application can focus on one of these:

• capital investment only
• capital and associated R&D activity

Your proposal must prioritise the scale up in areas mentioned in the Automotive Transformation Strategy.

This includes but is not limited to:

• batteries
• motors and drives
• power electronics
• fuel cell
• recycling of any of the above

Only projects which score well against these criteria will receive funding from the Automotive Transformation Fund:

• fit with the overall aims of the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF)
• value for money for the UK
• ongoing benefit to the UK from the exploitation of your project
• project deliverables such as time, cost and quality (including risks)

The ATF will prioritise support to projects that:

• can act as anchors to their respective supply chains
• are likely to lead to further investments while creating a sustainable and competitive supply chain for the future

The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) will fund a portfolio of projects, across the technologies listed in the specific themes section. This portfolio and the technologies within are designed to be complimentary to the overall aim of the ATF. There may be occasion where a lower scoring project is supported, superseding a higher scoring application.

The APC can help you check whether your project fits the Automotive Transformation Fund. Contact the APC team at ATF@apcuk.co.uk to find out more.