UK motor and drive developers secure £47m of government funding
17 August 2026 
British electric motor and drivetrain developers, including Yasa and Turntide, are among those that will benefit from 33 projects chosen to receive more than £47m in funding as part of the UK Government’s £4bn Drive35 automotive programme, designed to support the development and commercialisation of next-generation automotive technologies, while strengthening UK manufacturing, innovation and supply chains. The programme supports businesses through targeted funding from early-stage innovation, through to commercialisation and manufacturing.
The Drive35programme – delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Innovate UK – forms a key part of the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan and Industrial Strategy, supporting the transition to zero-emission vehicle technologies. It is said to represent the biggest government investment in the UK car industry since the Second World War, with a planned total investment of £4bn in the period to 2035, aimed at speeding up the electrification of the automotive sector. The goal is to create tens of thousands of high-quality jobs and to contribute around £66bn to the UK economy by 2040.
The programme aims to help businesses to bring innovative technologies to market, creating skilled jobs, attracting private investment, strengthening domestic supply chains and reinforcing the UK’s position as a global leader in automotive innovation.
When combined with private sector investment, the new grant funding represents a total investment of more than £90m, supporting electrification and battery technologies, advanced manufacturing, digitalisation, the circular economy and zero-emission mobility.
The successful projects have been broken down into five categories that support different stages of the innovation process.
Mobilise This covers early-stage start-ups, university spin-outs and SMEs. In total, 16 businesses have been awarded more than £2.7m, including:
- Cooled Motors, which is developing a magnet-free motor topology that matches the performance of rare-earth magnet motors, while reducing costs. It uses standard manufacturing processes and inverters, simplifying the transition from magnet to magnetless motors for OEMs.
- Electric Aviation Group, which is developing a compact electric drive system that combines several key parts into a single part that could make vehicles lighter, more efficient, and easier to build.
- Aeramine, which is developing a way to turn used copper into high-quality material that can be used again in EV parts. This could cut waste, reduce the need for new raw materials, and support UK supply chains.
- Aftrak, which is developing a small electric tractor that can be operated by someone walking alongside it.
Collaborate Two collaborative R&D projects have been awarded more than £8m, including one, called Autoloom, that brings together:
- Q5D Technologies, Artifex Interior Systems, JLR and the University of Warwick to industrialise Q5D’s digital manufacturing technology for wiring harnesses, replacing labour-intensive manual assembly with an automated, CAD-driven process to enable flexible, UK-based passenger car production.
Demonstrate Ten projects have been awarded £9m for real-world demonstrations of innovative technologies, including:
- Yasa (owned by Mercedes), whose Project Resilience seeks to demonstrate an axial-flux motor free of heavy rare-earth materials, intended to improve sustainability and increase resilience to geopolitical supply chain challenges.
- Nexperia UK, which will demonstrate a next-generation silicon power Mosfet architecture designed to improve efficiency in EV electrical systems.
- GreenTech Industries, whose AutoDMR project will build the UK’s first precision automated EV battery disassembly facility using robots and digital tools.
Scale-up This is awarding £26.9m to five businesses to help them bridge the gap between innovation and manufacturing at scale. They include:
- Empel Systems, which is aiming to create scalable UK manufacturing capabilities for advanced power electronics assembly manufacturing, and further vertical integration for electric machines.
- Turntide Technologies, whose Supreme project (which has won £17m of funding) aims to scale up production of water-cooled axial-flux motors, achieving cost reductions of 59% to support mass adoption.
“Britain invented the modern motor industry and we’re determined to ensure the next generation of vehicles are designed and built here too,” says industry minister, Blair McDougall. “This investment will secure skilled jobs, strengthen our manufacturing heartlands and help drive the re-industrialisation of Britain.”
According to Ian Constance, chief executive of the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, the 33 projects selected for support “demonstrate the depth of innovation and engineering excellence that exists across the UK automotive sector. Through Drive35, we are supporting businesses to move promising technologies to commercial deployment and manufacturing at scale.
“This investment is about far more than individual projects,” he adds. “It is about strengthening the UK’s capability to design, develop and build the technologies that will define the vehicles of the future. By bringing together industry, government and academia, Drive35 is helping create the conditions for long-term growth, increasing investor confidence and reinforcing the UK’s position as one of the world’s leading destinations for automotive innovation.”
Alongside the Drive35 announcement, the Government has also confirmed the latest projects to receive support through its CAM Pathfinder programme, which is accelerating the deployment of Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) technologies across the UK. It is funding nine new projects including technologies such as sensors and AI simulation.
Advanced Propulsion Centre UK: LinkedIn
