Automotive Transformation Fund Expression of Interest: Round 9

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.

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

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance. This is a change from the EU definition unless you are applying under State aid.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business, academic institution, charity, not-for-profit, 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

Your project must have an automotive application.

Your total eligible project costs and project duration must be appropriate and in proportion to the planned objectives and prioritisation within the Automotive Transformation Fund.

To discuss if your project falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must contact the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) directly at ATF@apcuk.co.uk at least 10 days before the competition closes. APC will decide whether to approve your request.

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

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

Your project can focus on one or more of the following:

Batteries

• cathode materials and manufacturing
• anode materials and manufacturing
• electrolyte
• cell assembly components (including separators)
• cell or module assembly
• cell testing
• battery pack components
• battery pack assembly and test

Motors and drives

• magnet materials and manufacturing
• electrical steel materials and manufacturing
• electrical machine assembly
• drive line components
• assembly and test into complete drive unit

Power electronics

• wide band gap semi-conductors
• sensors
• passives
• power electronics assembly

Fuel cell

• MEA
• catalysts
• bipolar plates
• gas diffusion layer
• air handling systems
• balance of power
• fuel cell stack assembly
• storage tanks
• fuel delivery (where specifically required for development purposes)

Recycling

• e-motors
• batteries
• fuel cells
• power electronics

The Automotive Transformation Fund provides detailed information on the specific themes of this competition.