DRIVE35 Innovation Fund: Collaborate 3 — Up to £20 Million for Zero-Emission Vehicle R&D (Deadline 16 September 2026)

The live round of this opportunity is DRIVE35 Innovation Fund: Collaborate 3. Innovate UK is offering a share of up to £20 million for late-stage collaborative research and development projects that support the UK transition to zero-emission vehicles and a net-zero automotive industry. The fund is part of DRIVE35, the Department for Business and Trade-led programme for automotive R&D, commercial scale-up, batteries, zero-emission vehicles, and the wider supply chain.

The official Innovation Funding Service record says the competition opened on 26 June 2026 and closes on 16 September 2026 at 11:00am UK time. This is an open competition, not a rolling fund. The deadline in the page metadata is therefore the date-only value 2026-09-16; applicants should use the official service for the precise closing time and submission process.

At a glance

The £20 million figure is the total competition allocation, not an automatic award for every applicant. The official guidance also says that applicants must request only the minimum grant needed to make the project viable. The total grant request must not exceed £20 million and must not exceed half of the total eligible project costs. At least 70% of total project costs must be incurred by commercial organisations.

What the current round is trying to fund

This is pre-production R&D aimed at direct commercialisation after the project. A proposal needs to show more than an interesting technical idea. It should explain the product, process, manufacturing capability, or software system being developed; the work still required; the partners that must deliver it; and the route into an industrial setting or market.

The official brief expects projects to support growth, transition, and security in the UK automotive supply chain while improving capability, productivity, efficiency, or competitiveness. Projects should contribute to UK strategic priorities, enable future-scale vehicle manufacture or high-value production, deliver on-vehicle technologies or manufacturing capabilities for zero-emission vehicles, create or safeguard high-value jobs, and help secure longer-term R&D investment.

Projects must reach Technology Readiness Level 7–8 or Manufacturing Readiness Level 6–7 by completion, using the published automotive readiness definitions. That makes this a poor fit for a concept that still needs basic feasibility work. It is better suited to a consortium that can identify a defined pre-production challenge, a measurable end state, and credible post-project commercialisation.

The application must fit at least one of three official themes:

Theme 1: Promote zero-emission vehicle technologies

This theme covers product and process innovation for on-board vehicle applications. The listed areas include electrical energy storage and its components, management, and integration; electric machines and driveline systems; power electronics including Vehicle-to-Everything applications; lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures; fuel-cell systems; and hydrogen storage and management.

The scope can also include upstream supply-chain work for those technologies, circularity and design for disassembly, and digitalisation of design, validation, and verification. A proposal should identify the specific vehicle or supply-chain problem and explain how the work will produce evidence that supports manufacture or adoption.

Theme 2: Enhance manufacturing competitiveness

This theme is for R&D that improves productivity and cost competitiveness while reducing embedded carbon across zero-emission vehicle and technology manufacturing. The official examples include digital transformation in manufacturing, process decarbonisation through non-fossil energy or lower energy use, lean manufacturing and material circularity, and supply-chain development.

The result should increase the likelihood and competitiveness of manufacturing zero-emission vehicles or their supply chain in the UK. A general office system, back-office upgrade, or stand-alone business process is outside the stated scope. The proposal must connect manufacturing work directly to the design, test, validation, recycling, reuse, or manufacture of vehicles and their relevant systems.

Theme 3: Future vehicle innovation — software-defined vehicles and electrical/electronic architectures

This theme addresses vehicle and system-level change driven by software-defined vehicles and new electrical/electronic architectures. Relevant work can include software-factory tools and processes that satisfy automotive safety and security needs, embedded software and connectivity, advanced control systems, scalable E/E architectures, high-performance compute, sensors and actuators, vehicle-level simulation, digital twins, in-the-loop validation, and safe and secure AI in functional software.

Applicants must assign percentages across the three themes so that the total is 100%. The theme selection is not just a label: it should match the technical plan, work packages, evidence, and commercial outcome described elsewhere in the application.

Eligibility and consortium design

The lead must be a UK registered business of any size, must claim grant funding, and must collaborate with other UK registered organisations. The consortium must include a vehicle manufacturer or a Tier 1 supplier that supplies parts directly to an original equipment manufacturer. It must also contain at least one UK registered micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise claiming grant funding on the application.

Other funded partners can be UK registered businesses, academic institutions, charities, not-for-profits, public-sector organisations, or research and technology organisations. Academic institutions cannot lead this competition or apply alone. At least the lead and one other organisation must claim funding and explain the rationale and structure of the collaboration.

Non-funded partners may be included, with their costs covered from their own resources. The guidance permits UK, European Union, and other non-UK organisations in that role, subject to the stated conditions around where project work is carried out and where results are exploited. Subcontractors are also allowed. UK subcontractors should be selected through the applicant’s normal procurement process; an overseas subcontractor needs a detailed justification and evidence that suitable UK contractors were considered and could not undertake the work. A lower price alone is not enough.

The match-funding rule should shape the consortium from the start. The project must be at least 50% match funded, and each organisation receiving grant must fund the balance of its eligible costs. For commercial work, the guidance sets maximum grant rates by organisation size and research category. For industrial research, the listed maximums are 70% for micro or small organisations, 60% for medium-sized organisations, and 50% for large organisations. For experimental development, the listed maximums are 45%, 35%, and 25% respectively. Non-economic research organisations can share up to 30% of total eligible project costs, with the stated limits for research organisations and academic full economic costing.

The guidance also notes a 3.5% industrial contribution to APC by all partners on grant received. Include that obligation in the financial model rather than treating the headline grant as the only cash-flow consideration.

How to apply through IFS

The application is split into three sections: project details, application questions, and finances. The lead should read the official guidance on applying through the Innovation Funding Service before starting, then invite the consortium partners into IFS. Each partner is responsible for entering its own project costs, organisation details, and funding information.

Start with the project architecture. Choose a title, proposed start date, duration, research category, and lead contact. The project must last 18 to 36 months and start from 1 May 2027. Confirm that the proposal is late-stage R&D, reaches the required readiness levels, meets the 50% match-funding rule, and includes the required vehicle manufacturer or Tier 1 supplier and funded SME.

Next, prepare the technical and commercial case. The service asks for a concise project summary, a public description suitable for publication, and a scope answer. It also asks the consortium to identify its three-theme percentage split. The scope answer needs to show why the work belongs in Collaborate 3; an out-of-scope application will not be sent for assessment.

The remaining questions cover applicant location, animal testing, permits and licences, international collaboration, export licences, trusted research and innovation, previous grant-funded work, strategic rationale, target market, project management, risks, intellectual property, funding model, project expenditure, jobs, sales, and emissions. Not every question is scored, but every question must be answered. The service specifically warns applicants not to place website addresses or URLs in their answers because those links will not be opened by assessors.

Each partner should supply accurate registered details, a cost model, its funding contribution, and evidence for the claims it owns. The commercial case should show who will use the output, how it will reach the market, which follow-on R&D or capital investment is needed, and how the project contributes to vehicle sales, emissions outcomes, manufacturing competitiveness, or UK jobs. The economic assessment is important: Department for Business and Trade value-for-money appraisers may examine project risks, the need for grant funding, spill-over benefits, jobs, expected vehicle sales, CO2e savings, and expenditure.

Before submission, the lead must check that all information is correct, the proposal meets eligibility and scope criteria, every section is marked complete, every partner has completed its assigned sections, and all partners have accepted the terms and conditions. A submitted application can be reopened before the deadline, but it must be resubmitted before the competition closes. Allow internal review time for consortium approvals, budget checks, permissions, and the final IFS submission rather than treating 16 September 2026 at 11:00am as an internal writing deadline.

What happens after submission

The published timetable says applicants invited to interview will be contacted on 7 October 2026. Economic feedback is issued on 15 October 2026. The listed feedback, value-for-money, presentation, collaboration-agreement, and interview stages continue through 30 October 2026, 2 November 2026, 3 November 2026, 9 November 2026, and 13 November 2026. Applicants are notified on 18 December 2026. These are post-submission stages, not extra time to complete the initial application.

If invited to interview, applicants must be ready to respond to technical and economic feedback, provide the requested presentation and attendance details, and send a mature draft collaboration agreement ahead of the interview. The guidance says the presentation must use Microsoft PowerPoint, last no longer than 30 minutes, and contain no more than 30 slides. The interview is held at the APC in Warwick and can last up to two and a half hours.

A practical preparation checklist

1. Confirm that the lead is a UK registered business and a grant claimant.
2. Secure a grant-claiming vehicle manufacturer or qualifying Tier 1 supplier that supplies directly to an OEM.
3. Add at least one funded UK SME and assign it a substantive technical or manufacturing role.
4. Select the dominant theme and document the percentage split across all three themes.
5. Set a project plan for 18 to 36 months, starting from 1 May 2027, with a readiness-level target of TRL 7–8 or MRL 6–7.
6. Build the cost model around at least 50% match funding, the 70% commercial-cost requirement, partner grant-rate limits, and the APC contribution.
7. Prepare evidence for market demand, commercialisation, jobs, vehicle sales, and CO2e effects.
8. Invite every partner in IFS and give each organisation enough time to complete its own costs and assigned questions.
9. Check permits, licences, export-control issues, international participation, subcontracting, intellectual property, and data or security concerns.
10. Submit a complete and internally approved application through the official IFS competition page by 16 September 2026 at 11:00am UK time.

DRIVE35 Collaborate 3 is a live, competitive round with a defined closing date. Teams that fit should use the official IFS record as the controlling source for the application questions, eligibility rules, financial limits, supporting information, and submission status. The page remains a current opportunity rather than a historical reference because the official competition is open and accepts applications until the published deadline.