What is on offer
Innovate UK has opened the sixth drawdown of its DRIVE35 Scale-up Fund, offering UK registered organisations a share of up to £150 million to build manufacturing facilities for zero emission vehicle technologies. The competition opens on Wednesday 4 November 2026 and closes on Wednesday 27 January 2027 at 11am, according to the competition page on the Innovation Funding Service.
The £150 million figure is subject to Innovate UK receiving a sufficient number of high quality applications, so the full pot is not guaranteed to be allocated.
Who is behind it and why
DRIVE35, which stands for Driving Research and Investment in Vehicle Electrification, is led by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST). Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is delivering the fund alongside BIST and the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK. The programme’s stated aim is to transform the UK automotive industry by backing research and development and the commercial scale up of zero emission vehicle technologies, and by unlocking capital investment across vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain. The competition sits within what the government describes as a long term commitment to growth sectors under its Industrial Strategy.
What the money is for
The Scale up Fund specifically targets manufacturing facility and process development at pilot or demonstration scale. Projects need to show they can validate manufacturing capability and commercial viability, with the goal of reaching market entry at a targeted production volume. Applicants must make the case for government intervention and demonstrate that public funding will be matched by substantial private investment. Innovate UK stresses this is a competitive process with a funding limit, meaning some proposals that score well may still miss out if the pot is exhausted.
What UK businesses need to do next
For UK manufacturers working on zero emission vehicles, batteries or related supply chain components, the practical deadline is 27 January 2027 at 11am, when the Innovation Funding Service portal closes the competition. Applicants must be UK registered organisations and will need to start a new application or continue an existing one through the service. The full eligibility, scope and scoring criteria, including business size and any collaboration requirements, are set out in the competition’s eligibility and scope sections on the Innovation Funding Service site rather than in the summary description.
What to watch next
Given the scale of the pot, this drawdown is likely to draw interest from battery makers, vehicle assemblers and components suppliers looking to move from pilot lines to commercial scale production in the UK. Whether Innovate UK confirms the number of projects funded, and how close the final total comes to the full £150 million, will be a signal of how much appetite there is among applicants to match public money with private investment. Watch for Innovate UK’s post-closure announcements on successful projects once the window shuts in late January 2027.