New funding opportunities have been made available to facilitate projects working to advance sustainable propulsion technologies for electric vehicles.
The Faraday Battery Challenge, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is searching for novel projects that are aiming to deliver breakthrough advancements in propulsion battery technologies for electric vehicles.
Facilitating battery innovation in the UK
In order to support the development of technologies with the capacity to enter the automotive market within the next 10 years, the Faraday Battery Challenge Round 5 Innovation competition is set to invest up to £25m.
The competition has been set up to facilitate the progression of UK battery innovations from technological potential to commercial capability. As well as this, the competition aims to expand material and manufacturing supply chains for UK battery technologies.
Through this competition, the Faraday Battery Challenge aims to assist the research and development of cutting-edge and sustainable battery technologies for the propulsion of electric vehicles. To qualify for funding, projects must:
- Be led by a business registered in the UK;
- Have total costs between £500,000 and £12m for collaborative research and development (CR&D) projects or £100,000 and £750,000 for feasibility studies;
- Last up to two years for CR&D projects and up to one year for feasibility studies;
- Commence on 1 January 2023; and
- Conduct all project work in the UK.
Supporting a competitive battery value chain
Eligible projects must balance specific technical, market and business requirements for developing emerging technologies and support UK competitiveness across the battery value chain.
The funding application deadline is 17 August 2022.
The Faraday Battery Challenge Round 5 Innovation competition is especially interested in proposals that use a combination of innovations in process improvements, cell chemistry, cell to pack efficiency and novel design concepts.
The projects must set out to accomplish one or more of the following:
- High power and high energy density, enabling high performance applications;
- Low cost and energy density technologies with less reliance on critical minerals;
- Technologies enabling high cycle life;
- Technologies developing sustainable batteries;
- Building and securing the UK supply chain; and
- Development of more efficient and globally competitive manufacturing processes.
The challenge centre on technologies with the possibility to enter the market within the next 10 to 15 years.
However, it will also facilitate technologies that could attain early or collaborative entry into other sectors on route to the automotive market.
The challenge is encouraging other sectors to work alongside automotive to maximise the technology benefits developed in this competition.
Towards a greener industry
Tony Harper, Director of the Faraday Battery Challenge, said: “If the UK is to realise its commitment to move to full electrification and zero-emissions vehicles, we must support promising technologies.
“At the same time, we need to build and secure a strong UK supply chain that will put the country at the forefront of innovation.
“This new round of funding will enable us to help businesses build partnerships and de-risk innovation across the supply chain.
“We will build on the UK’s world class research and innovation to move the industry forward.”
