Funding competition Automotive Transformation Fund Expression of Interest Round 32

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Competition sections

Description

The Automotive Transformation Fund(ATF) is a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) programme managed In collaboration with the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and Innovate UK. The ATF aims to establish an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK.

It offers grant funding for capital projects that support the industrialisation of a high value, zero emission automotive supply chain at scale in the UK.

This expression of interest (EoI) competition is the first stage in a two-stage application process (see ‘If your application is successful’ for more information). Your EoI must outline your proposal and potential benefits to the UK.

The Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) 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 occasions where a lower scoring project is supported, superseding a higher scoring application.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

Submitted EoIs will be sent for assessment at 11am UK time on the following dates:

  • 2 October 2024
  • quarterly

EoIs submitted after 11am on the drawdown date will be sent for assessment on the next drawdown date.

Submission dates may be removed or added at the discretion of the DBT, APC and Innovate UK.

EoIs may be assessed ahead of these deadlines and you will be informed if this is the case.

Funding type

Grant

Project size

Your project must request a minimum of £1 million in grant funding against your total eligible costs. Your projects total costs and project duration must be appropriate and in proportion to the planned objectives and prioritisation of the ATF.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Who can apply

Your project

Your total project costs and project duration must be aligned to the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). To be eligible your project must request a minimum of £1 million in grant against your total eligible project costs.

Your project must carry out all of its project work in the UK.

You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

If your project’s grant funding request or duration falls outside of our eligibility criteria, you must provide justification by email to ATF@apcuk.co.uk at least 10 working days before the competition closes. We will decide whether to approve your request.

If you have not requested approval or your application has not been approved by us, you will be made ineligible. Your application will then not be sent for assessment.

Lead organisation

To lead a project your organisation must:

More information on the different types of organisation can be found in our Funding rules.

Non-UK businesses can apply to this expression of interest (EoI) competition in reference to activities they are considering undertaking in the UK. The business must be registered in the UK before any funding can be awarded.

In line with Government regulations on managing public money, applicants who will require grant funding before their project has completed must evidence that they are able to provide security over the grant. If possible, an ultimate parent guarantee will be sought, but where this is not possible or in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of DBT, the security could be in other forms such as a bank guarantee or security over assets. For more information on this, contact the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

Project team

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size.

Each partner organisation must be invited into the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) by the lead to collaborate on a project. Once partners have accepted the invitation, they will be asked to login or to create an account in IFS. They are responsible for entering their own project costs in the appropriate application question.

If you are a collaboration the lead and at least one other organisation must request funding when entering their costs into the appropriate application question for this EoI competition.

If you are working in a collaboration the lead and at least one other organisation must request any funding awarded during stage two of this competition through the Department for Business and Trade Central Grants and Loans Team.

Non-funded partners

Your project can include partners that do not receive any of this competition’s funding, for example, non-UK businesses.

Subcontractors

Subcontractors are allowed in this competition.

Subcontractors can be from anywhere in the UK and you must select them through your usual procurement process.

You can use subcontractors from overseas but must make the case in your application as to why you cannot use suppliers from the UK.

You must provide a detailed rationale, evidence of the potential UK contractors you approached and the reasons why they were unable to work with you. We will not accept a cheaper cost as a sufficient reason to use an overseas subcontractor.

All subcontractor costs must be justified and appropriate to the total project costs.

Number of applications

A business can only lead on one application but can be included as a collaborator in two further applications.

Sanctions

This competition will not fund you, or provide any financial benefit to any individual or entities directly or indirectly involved with you, which would expose Innovate UK or any direct or indirect beneficiary of funding from Innovate UK to UK Sanctions. For example, through any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any entity as lead, partner or subcontractor related to these countries, administrations and terrorist groups.

Use of animals in research and innovation

Innovate UK expects and supports the provision and safeguarding of welfare standards for animals used in research and innovation, according to best practice and up to date guidance.

Applicants must ensure that all of the proposed work within projects, both that in the UK and internationally, will comply with the UKRI guidance on the use of animals in research and innovation.

Any projects selected for funding which involve animals will be asked to provide additional information on welfare and ethical considerations, as well as compliance with any relevant legislation as part of the project start-up process. This information will be reviewed before an award is made.

Previous applications

You can use a previously submitted application to apply for this competition.

If you have previously submitted an application that reached our assessment stage, you can re-apply once more with the same proposal.

If there are minor differences to the proposal, but it is judged by us to be ‘not materially different’, the same rule applies.

We will not award you funding if you have:

Subsidy control (and State aid where applicable)

This competition provides funding in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Further information about the Subsidy requirements can be found within the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

Innovate UK is unable to award organisations that are considered to be in financial difficulty. We will conduct financial viability and eligibility tests to confirm this is not the case following the application stage.

EU State aid rules now only apply in limited circumstances. Please see the Windsor Framework to check if these rules apply to your organisation.

Further Information

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 or the State aid rules, you should take independent legal advice. We are unable to advise on individual eligibility or legal obligations.

You must always make sure that the funding awarded to you is compliant with all current Subsidy Control legislation applicable in the United Kingdom.

This aims to regulate any advantage granted by a public sector body which threatens to, or actually distorts competition in the United Kingdom or any other country or countries.

This award is classified as a Subsidy which does not form part of your Minimal Financial Assistance or De Minimis allowance.

Funding

Funding has been allocated for capital focused projects in this competition.

Your project must request a minimum of £1 million in grant funding against your total eligible costs. Your projects total costs and project duration must be appropriate and in proportion to the planned objectives and prioritisation of the ATF.

No funding is awarded at this EoI stage. Successful applicants from this EoI stage will be invited to a second stage where they will be asked to submit a full application.

Capital investment projects will be managed through the Department for Business and Trade Grant Delivery Team. For capital investment projects the grant available is dependent on the proposed project and will be determined during the second stage of the application process.

The grant requested should be the minimum required to ensure sustainability of the investment. Further information on the process will be provided at the full stage.

For more information on company sizes, please refer to the company accounts guidance.

If you are applying for an award funded under State aid Regulations, the definitions are set out in the European Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003.

Your proposal

Text update 2 October 2024: we have added additional guidance in specific themes and removed some guidance in the ‘We are not funding projects that’ section.

This is an expression of interest (EoI) competition. You must have a successful application in this competition before you can be invited to apply to the second stage of the competition. Any application to the second stage of the competition will be subject to a separate assessment, with no guarantee of funding support.

Your project must support the industrialisation at scale of a zero emission automotive supply chain. It must be appropriate and in proportion to the planned objectives and prioritisation of the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF).

You should be looking to transform the automotive industry through significant business or production expansion. We expect your project to be centred around a product, process or technology that you have already demonstrated and have confirmed as technically and economically feasible.

You can apply for grants for eligible capital expenditure only.

Your proposal must prioritise the industrialisation in areas mentioned in the ‘Themes’ section of this brief. Your project must prioritise industrialisation and focus on one or more of the following:

  • batteries including cells (gigafactories)
  • electric motors and drives
  • power electronics
  • fuel cells
  • upstream supply chain for batteries, including cells, electric motors and drives, power electronics or fuel cells

Your project must:

  1. fit with the overall strategy of the ATF
  2. offer value for money for the UK
  3. be supported by an appropriate plan for financing and delivery
  4. include deliverables such as time, cost and quality, including risks

Only projects which score well against these criteria will receive funding from the ATF.

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 Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) 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 occasions 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.

Specific themes

Your project must focus on one or more of the following themes:

Batteries

  • including cells and gigafactories
  • 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

Electric 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

  • catalysts

  • bipolar plates

  • gas diffusion layer

  • air handling system

  • balance of power

  • fuel delivery

Power electronics

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

Fuel cells

  • Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA)
  • fuel cell stack assembly
  • storage tanks

Upstream Supply Chain including:

  • raw materials
  • component manufacturing
  • sub-assembly manufacturing
  • e-motors
  • batteries
  • fuel cells
  • power electronics
The Automotive Transformation Fund provides detailed information on the specific themes of this competition.

Projects we will not fund

We are not funding projects that:

  • do not transform the automotive industry through significant business or production expansion
  • are not centred around a product, process or technology that you have already demonstrated
  • are not confirmed as technically and economically feasible
  • focus on a product or process development which is at prototype or early proof of concept stage
  • focus on fuel cell system components other than those listed in the specific themes section
  • focus on low-carbon fuels development
  • focus on the use of digital or data technologies such as software development
  • focus on Complete Knock Down (CKD) or final electric vehicle assembly
  • are related to charging infrastructure
  • support retail and wholesale fuel supply
  • support retail and wholesale energy supply
  • support speculative site enabling projects

We are not funding projects that are only R&D. If your project is only R&D please see the alternative competitions on the Innovate UK and APC websites.

We cannot fund projects that are:

  • dependent on export performance, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it exports a certain quantity of bread to another country
  • dependent on domestic inputs usage, for example, giving a subsidy to a baker on the condition that it uses 50% UK flour in their product

7 August 2024
Competition opens
2 October 2024
First submission date
8 January 2025
Second submission date
No submission deadline
This is open-ended competition and applications can be submitted at any time.

Before you start

You must read the guidance on applying for a competition on the Innovation Funding Service before you start.

You should also read specific information about the ATF programme before you start your application.

Before submitting, it is the lead applicant’s responsibility to make sure:

  • that all the information provided in the application is correct
  • your proposal meets the eligibility and scope criteria
  • all sections of the application are marked as complete
  • if collaborative, that all partners have completed all assigned sections and accepted the terms and conditions (T&Cs)

You can reopen your application once submitted, up until the drawdown date. You must resubmit the application before the drawdown date.

What we ask you

The application is split into two sections:

  1. Project details.
  2. Application questions.

Accessibility and Inclusion

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.

You can contact us at any time to ask for guidance.

We recommend you contact us at least 15 working days before this competition’s closing date to allow us to put the most suitable support in place. The support we can provide may be limited if you contact us close to the competition deadline.

You can contact Innovate UK by email or call 0300 321 4357. Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

1. Project details

This section provides background for your application and is not scored.

Application team

Decide which organisations will work with you on your project and invite people from those organisations to help complete the application.

Application details

Give your project’s title, start date and duration.

Project summary

This section is mandatory, and it is a vital part of the application, setting the scene and providing assessors with a clear overview and feeding into the strategic scoring process.

Provide a summary of the objectives, in layman’s terms, and the output of the proposed project, covering the following elements:

  • output or results of the project specifically manufacturing capacity volumes and jobs created and safeguarded
  • amount of grant support requested
  • total anticipated budget
  • potential investment location if known
  • anticipated route to market
  • market opportunity being addressed

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Public description

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

Scope

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be eligible for funding.

Your answer can be up to 400 words long.

2. Application questions

The assessors will score all your answers apart from questions 1, 2 and 3. You will receive feedback for each scored question.

You must answer all questions. Your answer to each question can be up to 400 words long. Do not include any website addresses (URLs) in your answers.

Question 1. Applicant location (not scored)

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project.

We are collecting this information to understand the geographical location of all applicants.

Question 2. Animal testing (not scored)

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing?

You must select one option:

  • Yes
  • No

We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Question 3. Permits and licences (not scored)

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project?

We are unable to fund projects in the full stage of the competition who do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date.

You must select one option:

  • Yes
  • No
  • In process of being applied for
  • Not applicable

Question 4. Automotive Transformation Fund Strategic Alignment

How does your project align with the Automotive Transformation Fund?

Demonstrate how your project aligns to the competition objectives, associated focus areas and overall aims of the Automotive Transformation Fund, providing up to date evidence.

Describe:

  • which area of the Automotive Transformation Fund your project will help deliver
  • your current role in the UK supply chain and how this project will change that

As a direct result of this project, detail:

  • your forecasted volumes and the assumptions behind these volumes
  • how the project will impact the commercialisation of transformative automotive technologies in the UK

You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF, can be up to 2 A4 pages long and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be in 11 point font size.

Question 5. Market opportunity

What does the market you are targeting look like?

Describe:

  • the target markets for the project outcomes, any other potential markets, either domestic, international or both
  • the size of the target markets for the project outcomes, backed up by references where available
  • the structure and dynamics of the target markets, including customer segmentation, together with predicted growth rates within clear timeframes
  • the target markets’ main supply or value chains and business models, and any barriers to entry that exist
  • the current UK position in targeting these markets
  • the size and main features of any other markets not already listed

If your project is highly innovative, where the market may be unexplored, describe or explain:

  • what the market’s size might be
  • how your project will try to capture the market’s potential

Question 6. Project Outcomes

What will your project bring directly to the UK?

You must provide both qualitative and quantitative outputs; consider social, economic, employment, environmental and technological impacts.

As a direct result of this project include expected project outputs such as:

  • products
  • manufacturing capacity
  • impact on the UK supply chain
  • training and skill development
  • spill-over into wider automotive industry and other sectors
  • additional investment opportunities linked to this project both inside and outside of the UK

You must download and complete the “Value for Money” template to state:

  • the number of jobs created and safeguarded by this project
  • if your project has associated R&D investment, indicate the expected average percentage of total project spend on R&D
  • the expected environmental benefits, including any CO2 savings, and indicate the areas you think these savings would occur for example reduced international shipping and manufacturing process changes

You must submit the completed ‘value for money’ template with this question.

Question 7. Technical approach and business management

What technical approach will you use and how will you manage your project?

Explain:

  • the technical approach, including the main objectives of the work and key milestones
  • how and why the structure of your project is defined and suitable
  • the key investment milestones required to ensure a successful project and how these will be successfully delivered.
  • how your proposed project team have the right skills and experience to deliver this project, or, if or, how you propose to fill any gaps in experience

You can submit a work breakdown structure, including the cost of each work package, and an investment milestone plan. It must be a PDF, can be up to 3 A4 pages long and must be in 11 point font size.

Question 8. Finances

You must confirm that as part of your stage-two application, you can provide detailed financial forecasts for the project?

You must confirm if you have an immediate or ultimate parent company:

  • if yes: can your ultimate parent company sign a reasonable parent company guarantee, or a bank guarantee
  • if no: what form of guarantee or security to His Majesty’s Government (HMG) would you be able to provide in the event that an ATF grant award is made

Explain:

  • what are the proposed total cost and grant request of the project
  • aside from the ATF grant, how will the project be funded, and when will it be secured
  • the number of full-time equivalents employed by you, the applicant, and the ultimate parent if you have one

You must use the Finance Template to provide:

  • estimates of your project’s eligible costs, including any partner’s costs and the grant funding you are seeking
  • details of the last two years turnover, profit before tax, net current assets and liabilities and net assets and liabilities for you, the applicant, and ultimate parent if you have one

If your proposal includes R&D and capital investment, you must separate these costs out.

All organisations must submit their last set of full financial statements as an appendix in the form of a PDF no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be in 11 point font size. If you are unable to submit your last set of financial statements, explain why as part of your response to the question.

Question 9. Case for funding assistance

To ensure public investment adds value, the Automotive Transformation Fund will only award funding to projects which would not go ahead in the UK without ATF support.

Answer the following questions:

  1. Why do you need this funding to carry out your project in the UK?

This can include: limited capital funds, to meet internal requirements such as IRR thresholds or different returns compared to operating outside of the UK

Explain what other sources of funding have been considered, including private investment, and why it is not available.

If your application progresses to the next stage, what evidence will you provide to demonstrate your need for grant, for example, discounted cash flow analysis, or relative costs of alternative locations and the UK.

  1. What will happen to the project in the absence of funding?

Describe what will occur if the application for funding is not successful.

Assessment

Your application will be reviewed by dedicated assessors in the APC and DBT.

It is possible that a well scoring application can be rejected because of the portfolio approach to this programme.

Background and further information

Intended to support industrialisation at scale of a high-value zero emission automotive supply chain in the UK, the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) is a programme funded by the UK government.

Formed in 2013, the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) accelerates the industrialisation of technologies which help to realise zero emission vehicles. It is at the heart of the UK Government’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The APC was appointed as the main Automotive Transformation Fund delivery organisation.

This Automotive Transformation Fund competition is formally delivered in partnership between APC, Innovate UK and the Department for Business and Trade.

The ATF will be administered utilising a portfolio approach over the life of the fund. They may also choose to prioritise projects in specific themes where the projects are deemed of strategic importance to the aims of the ATF.

The Department for Business and Trade Grants Delivery Team will deliver the second stage of the competition process, assessment framework and contracting. The value for money that the proposed project will deliver to the UK economy will be assessed by the Department for Business and Trade.

Where a project is linked to overseas investment in the UK, or export of goods from the UK, the Department for Business and Trade will:

  • provide reasons why an overseas business should invest in the UK
  • assist with sector-specific information about the UK economy
  • provide a way for overseas businesses to contact the Department for Business and Trade staff in their country

APC can help by:

  • co-ordinating your application through all the necessary steps
  • providing general guidance regarding interpretation of competition rules and guidelines on an informal basis
  • helping your consortium to structure the bid development process
  • answering questions regarding whether or not your project is within scope

Your application may be re-directed to other more suitable funding opportunities. You will be notified if this is the case.

If your application is successful

If you are successful with this application you will be required to submit your second-stage application (full application) within six months.

During this six month period guidance will be available on how to complete your application.

If you do not submit your full application within six months your EoI will expire and you may need to re-apply to this competition at a later date.

In exceptional circumstances this timeline may not apply. If you think your project requires a decision within a different timeline, please contact the APC.

Find a project partner

If you want help to find a project partner, contact Innovate UK Business Connect.

Support for SMEs from Innovate UK Business Growth

If you receive an award, you will be contacted about working with an innovation and growth specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth. This service forms part of our funded offer to you.

These specialists focus on growing innovative businesses and ensuring that projects contribute to their growth. Working one-to-one, they can help you to identify your best strategy and harness world-class resources to grow and achieve scale.

We encourage you to engage with Innovate UK Business Growth, delivered by a knowledgeable and objective specialist near you.

Protecting your innovation

A Secure Innovation campaign has been developed to help founders and leaders of innovative startups protect their technology, competitive advantage, and reputation.

This was developed by UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Data sharing

This competition is jointly operated by Innovate UK, APC and the Department for Business and Trade (each an ‘agency’).

Any relevant information submitted and produced during the application process concerning your application can be shared by one agency with the other, for its individual storage, processing and use.

This means that any information given to or generated by Innovate UK in respect of your application may be passed on to APC and DBT and vice versa. This would include, but is not restricted to:

  • the information stated on the application, including the personal details of all applicants
  • scoring and feedback on the application
  • information received during the management and administration of the grant, such as Monitoring Officer reports and Independent Accountant Reports

Innovate UK, APC and DBT are directly accountable to you for their holding and processing of your information, including any personal data and confidential information. Data is held in accordance with their own policies. Accordingly, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect, APC and DBT will be data controllers for personal data submitted during the application.

Innovate UK’s Privacy Policy

Innovate UK Business Connect Privacy Policy

Department for Business and Trade Privacy Policy

Advanced Propulsion Centre Privacy Policy

Innovate UK complies with the requirements of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is committed to upholding data protection legislation, and protecting your information in accordance with data protection principles.

The Information Commissioner’s Office also has a useful guide for organisations, which outlines the data protection principles.

Contact us

If you need more information about how to apply or you want to submit your application in Welsh, email support@iuk.ukri.org or call 0300 321 4357.

Our phone lines are open from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5pm UK time, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Innovate UK or any of our partners will not tolerate abusive language in any written or verbal correspondence, applications, social media or any other form that might affect staff.

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