Battery Innovation: Concept Development Round 3

Overview

The Battery Innovation Programme is investing up to £25 million in collaborative R&D projects that strengthen strategically important areas of the UK battery value chain.

This competition focuses on building UK capability in battery cell, module and pack manufacturing, including high-performance technologies, automated production, non-destructive testing and AI-supported design and simulation.

Projects should help address barriers to scaling UK battery manufacturing, strengthen supply chain resilience and support more battery technology development and manufacturing within the UK.

This competition is split into two strands:

• Battery Innovation: Concept Development Round 3 (this strand)
• Battery Innovation: Feasibility Studies Round 3

Scope

The competition aims to:

• support collaborative R&D in strategically critical areas of the UK battery value chain
• strengthen UK capability in battery cell manufacturing and pack manufacturing, including high-performance cell technologies, automated manufacturing techniques, non-destructive testing, and AI-driven design and simulation of manufacturing processes
• strengthen UK supply chain security and build resilient, multi-sector manufacturing capability
• support supply chain localisation to align with rules of origin requirements and the UK’s strategic priorities

This is intended to address key capability gaps limiting the UK’s ability to:

• scale UK battery cell manufacturing
• develop UK battery module and pack manufacturing
• improve battery systems
• capture greater economic value domestically

Projects must demonstrate how the proposed innovation will do at least one of the following:

• enable improvements to manufacturing processes for large-scale battery cell production
• expand industrial development of battery module technologies
• develop high-performance and efficient battery pack and battery management system (BMS) technologies
• reduce dependence on overseas cell and pack manufacturers and strengthen UK supply chain resilience
• demonstrate the results of AI-supported design across cell and pack development
• support scale-up from laboratory to pilot and pre-commercial manufacturing within the UK

Projects must demonstrate a credible pathway and deliver added value to the UK, for example through:

• scale-up and manufacturing deployment for battery cells in the UK
• creation or expansion of UK cell manufacturing technologies
• development or expansion of UK high-performance cell and module technologies
• creation of high-performance battery packs and battery management systems
• creation or expansion of industrial capability, facilities or production capacity across the battery value chain
• strengthening UK supply chain resilience across both cell and pack manufacturing
• delivery of long-term economic and environmental benefits aligned with net zero objectives

Key themes and topics

R&D activities can include, but are not limited to:

• improved efficiency and CO2 reduction or offset from battery cell manufacturing processes
• automated cell manufacturing technologies
• development of dry coating methods
• end-of-line testing technologies
• development of modular and replicable module and cell systems
• next-generation AI-supported BMS systems
• efficient module and pack joining methods
• structural battery packs
• use of lightweight materials in battery packs
• digital tools to accelerate experiment design

Projects must clearly state which of the following development groups they align with.

1. Cell manufacturing

Innovations that strengthen UK competitiveness in cell manufacturing.

Projects are encouraged to:

• enable scale-up from laboratory to gigafactory levels to expand UK large-scale cell manufacturing capacity
• integrate digital tools, in-line diagnostics and digital twins to optimise efficiency and reduce scrap
• reduce energy demand, waste and environmental impacts across cell production
• support the industrialisation of new cell chemistries and formats, including pouch, cylindrical and prismatic cells
• integrate design-for-manufacturing approaches to improve yield and reliability
• advance electrode fabrication, cell assembly and formation processes
• produce high-performance stacking and winding patterns
• increase the speed of tab and enclosure joining
• improve solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer consistency at high production rates
• develop novel ageing and testing capabilities to reduce conditioning time
• develop tools, equipment and automation solutions for production efficiency
• deploy digital tools such as AI to improve cell development time

2. Module manufacturing

Innovations that strengthen UK competitiveness in module manufacturing.

Projects are encouraged to:

• advance cell-to-module interconnect fabrication, structural bonding and module housing assembly
• produce high-performance busbar configurations, for example automated laser welding patterns
• increase the speed and precision of cell positioning, clamping and electrical joining
• improve the consistency of thermal interface material (TIM) application at high production rates
• develop novel end-of-line electrical testing and insulation monitoring

3. Pack manufacturing and battery management systems

Innovations that strengthen UK competitiveness in pack manufacturing.

Projects are encouraged to:

• innovate in pack design, structural systems or fast assembly techniques
• improve safety systems, early-warning diagnostics and fault-tolerant designs
• develop advanced BMS functionality and state-of-health or state-of-charge algorithms
• create thermal management innovations, including new materials, architectures or control systems
• apply simulation, digital twins or data-driven optimisation for real-world performance
• enable circularity-ready or end-of-life-friendly design
• implement digital tools such as AI to improve performance and safety
• support application-specific optimisation for automotive, aerospace, maritime, rail, defence or stationary storage

Projects can target performance requirements for at least one of the following sectors and can support emerging use cases or cross-sector applications:

• automotive, including on and off-highway vehicles, motorsports and niche automotive
• aerospace
• battery energy storage systems
• rail
• maritime
• defence, where the innovation is dual use with clear relevance beyond defence applications

Applications must clearly demonstrate an understanding of the target sector, industry and market demand across the UK, Europe and globally.

Projects will not be funded if they are:

• not aligned with the Industrial Strategy
• for personal mobility and consumer electronics
• early-stage discovery research
• primarily focused on battery second-life use
• focused on material extraction and refining
• dependent on export performance
• dependent on the use of a set percentage of domestic inputs

Project duration

12 to 36 months

Must start on or after 1 May 2027

End by 31 March 2031

Award value

Grant funding request between £500,000 and £4 million

Funding rates

For industrial research projects, purposeful research that builds new knowledge and skills to improve or develop products, processes or services, often through prototypes or system components that validate ideas in realistic settings, funding is available for eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% for a micro or small organisation
• up to 60% for a medium-sized organisation
• up to 50% for a large organisation

Research organisations undertaking non-economic activity can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs.

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size
• Projects must include at least one grant claiming SME
• Collaborators can be a UK registered business of any size; an academic institution; a charity; a not for profit; a public sector organisation; or a research and technology organisation (RTO)
• Subcontractors should be UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs. Overseas subcontractors can be used where there is sufficient justification for why a UK supplier cannot be used
• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK
• Projects must intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• Subsidy control and state aid rules apply