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DRIVE35 Funding Programme

DRIVE35 is a grant programme for automotive businesses, from start-ups to large companies, working on research, scale-up and transformation projects in the United Kingdom. Opens 20 January 2027.

Run by Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade

Checked against the official page (apcuk.co.uk) on 20 Oct 2026.

A zero-emission automotive funding programme with grants across innovation, scale-up and transformation, delivered by the Department for Business, Science, Innovation and Trade with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK. Aimed at automotive businesses and projects, from start-up to large-scale transformation.

Apply or find out more

These details are gathered from public web pages and are not financial advice. Check them with Advanced Propulsion Centre UK before you apply.

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Status and deadline

Status

Opening soon

Confirmed on the official page

Deadline

Closes 7 April 2027

As stated: Collaborate applications open on 20 January 2027 and will close on 7 April 2027.

Opens 20 January 2027

Not confirmed on the official page

How much

Unprecedented £4 billion of grant funding available to 2035 for automotive R&D, scale-up and transformation

Whole fund: £4,000,000,000, shared between applicants

Not confirmed on the official page

Who can apply

DRIVE35 is a programme of funding for automotive R&D, scale-up and transformation, with strands for SMEs, start-ups, spinouts and more mature organisations, and consortium partners for Collaborate.

Confirmed on the official page

Business size

Micro (under 10 staff), Small (10 to 49 staff), Medium (50 to 249 staff), Large businesses, Start-ups

Not confirmed on the official page

Sectors

automotive

Could your business apply?

Tell us about your business and an AI will compare it with this scheme's rules: what fits, what doesn't and what to check with Advanced Propulsion Centre UK. It takes a few seconds.

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How to apply

Speak to the APC team or visit the page for each funding strand, such as Mobilise, Demonstrate, Collaborate, Feasibility Studies, Scale-up Fund and Automotive Transformation Fund.

Not confirmed on the official page

Where it is open: UK-wide

United Kingdom

Not confirmed on the official page

HartlepoolMiddlesbroughRedcar and ClevelandStockton-on-TeesDarlingtonHaltonWarringtonBlackburn with DarwenBlackpoolKingston upon Hull, City ofEast Riding of YorkshireNorth East LincolnshireNorth LincolnshireYorkCounty DurhamCheshire EastCheshire West and ChesterNorthumberlandCumberlandWestmorland and FurnessNorth YorkshireBurnleyChorleyFyldeHyndburnLancasterPendlePrestonRibble ValleyRossendaleSouth RibbleWest LancashireWyreBoltonBuryManchesterOldhamRochdaleSalfordStockportTamesideTraffordWiganKnowsleyLiverpoolSt. HelensSeftonWirralDoncasterRotherhamNewcastle upon TyneNorth TynesideSouth TynesideSunderlandBradfordCalderdaleKirkleesLeedsWakefieldGatesheadBarnsleySheffield

Open across United Kingdom, so every council area in the North of England is shaded.

Drawn from the areas the funder names. If a scheme is only for part of a council area, check its own page. Boundaries from the Office for National Statistics.

Things we could not confirm

  • Several strands sit under this programme with different status and deadlines; the page gives only the Collaborate dates and says which strands are open or closed.
  • Mobilise and Demonstrate open dates are given without a year.
  • Eligibility criteria and amounts for each strand are not stated on this page.
  • Delivered in partnership with Innovate UK and the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK; their own rules may apply.

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Source and last checked

Local Landscape gathers this information automatically from the pages below, then checks the key details against the official page. Checked against the official page (apcuk.co.uk) on 20 Oct 2026. Its details last changed on 20 Oct 2026. No person has checked it, so confirm the details with Advanced Propulsion Centre UK before you apply.

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