Multi-million pound Collaborate automotive R&D projects go live

13 July 2025

Five leading automotive companies and the government have invested a combined total of £73.8 million towards envelope-pushing collaborative R&D projects.

JLR, Mercedes AMG, and Phinia Delphi are among the successful applicants which have built consortia to be guided by the APC’s team of dedicated project delivery leads.

With £36.8 million in Collaborate grants provided through DRIVE35, by the Department for Business and Trade, and facilitated by the APC, the projects aim to develop high-performance electric drives, better battery technology, and more efficient fuel cell systems.

Mint Innovation and Belfast-based Ionic Technologies, are leading projects that will transform the supply chains for critical materials in batteries and sustainable rare earth materials in magnets

The projects and companies involved are:

CirculaREEconomy

Ionic Technologies, Less Common Metals, Wrightbus, European Metal Recycling (EMR), British Geological Survey (BGS), Bentley Motors, Ford Technologies

COMET

Mint Innovation, JLR, Libatt Recycling, University of Warwick

IGNITED

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, YASA, Depe Gear Company

InCA

JLR, Strip Tinning, Novelis UK, Lubricants UK, University of Warwick

MOBIUS

JLR, European Metal Recycling (EMR), DeepForm, Altair Engineering

Torque of Tomorrow

Phinia Delphi UK, Cambustion, Oxford Brookes University

Further details about each project will be provided in due course. Follow the APC on LinkedIn to find out more.