Funding

UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £10 million. The funding is for the development and demonstration of solutions to increase public Electric Vehicle (EV) charging provision for longer journeys on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).

• Competition opens: Monday 3 November 2025
• Competition closes: Wednesday 25 March 2026 11:00am

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £10 million from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). This is subject to a sufficient number of high quality applications being received.

We reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions under exceptional circumstances, for example, in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations, or broader government funding decisions.

The aim of this competition is to:

• test novel whole systems concepts in a real world setting, which address electric vehicle (EV) charging power challenges along the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England
• develop and demonstrate innovative solutions addressing short to medium term grid and operational constraints to EV charging provision, faced at all purpose trunk road (APTR) cold spots and Motorway Service Areas (MSAs) along the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England
• enable at least 12 EVs (primarily cars and vans) to access ultra rapid (150kW or more) charging at SRN sites on motorways and APTR in England
• build sector capability and foster a shared focus on improving Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure on the SRN in England
• widely disseminate learning which can enable industry to address power, grid and operational challenges to EV charging provision along the SRN in England 

Your proposal must:

• produce a detailed plan of deployment addressing short to medium term power, grid and operational constraints to the roll out of public ultra rapid EV charging for at least one site on the SRN in England
• develop and deploy the solution at one or more MSA sites, or one or more sites within one mile of the SRN so as to reduce or eliminate an APTR cold spot area, within the funded period
• continue to operate that solution with appropriate maintenance and customer support (self funded) for at least three years beyond the end of funding
• address the challenges of public EV charging interoperability and the need for compatibility for users across the SRN in England
• show that you understand relevant design requirements
• consider the safety of users of the SRN in England and other affected groups, in line with standards such as GG 104 – Requirements for safety risk assessment
• report and disseminate learnings from your development and deployment activity to build sector capability, for example, through academic or industry papers, website and social media articles
• report and disseminate your learnings during the three years of operation

An APTR cold spot is defined as a section of the APTR network in England where an EV could not reach a location with at least six ultra rapid charging devices within 20 miles driving distance. A list of these locations is included in the Supporting Information section.

At the end of the funded development and deployment period, you will be required to submit a report for public dissemination summarising:

• your project objectives
• confirmation of deliverables: planned against achieved
• your benefits review: expected, realised and anticipated in the operation period
• project performance review: highlights, challenges faced and lessons learnt

A further report will be required at the end of the three year period of operation summarising:

• performance and use of the innovation during the operating period
• how you have used your projects results to inform wider charge point roll-out, future operations and business plans

Commercially sensitive data can be redacted for public dissemination, but you must be willing to act as a public case study to build sector capability.

Your reports must include high quality images that can be used for dissemination by government and Innovate UK in future publications.

In applying to this competition, you are entering into a competitive process. This competition has a funding limit, so we may not be able to fund all the proposed projects. It may be the case that your project scores highly but we are still unable to fund it.

Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 15% to 30% chance of success.

We consider a range of factors when determining whether to provide funding to applicants. This includes an assessment of prior conduct, such as any outstanding payments owed to Innovate UK or UKRI. Such factors may influence the funding decision, potentially resulting in a refusal of funding or an award subject to additional scrutiny.

We also reserve the right to adjust funding allocations for any of our competitions. This may be in response to changes in policy, portfolio funding considerations or broader government funding decisions.

This competition closes at 11am UK time on the deadline stated in this Innovate UK competition brief. We cannot guarantee other government or third party sites will always show the correct competition information.

We welcome early applications ahead of the deadline.

Find out more and apply.