Innovate UK is offering grants of up to £7.5 million to consortia that can prove vehicle-to-everything (V2X) bidirectional charging works at scale, across different vehicles, chargers and energy systems.
The Scaling Interoperable V2X competition has up to £15 million to share. It is part of the Consumer Led Flexibility Challenge within the Clean Energy Superpower Mission, which aims to unlock at least 2 GW of extra peak-time flexibility from consumers by 2030. Innovate UK wants to move bidirectional charging beyond small pilots and into real-world use, with EVs, chargers and energy services from different suppliers all working together.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
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Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
To lead a project, you must be a UK-registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation (RTO). That includes micro, small or medium-sized enterprises as well as large companies. Academic institutions can't lead.
You must apply as a consortium of at least three organisations, including the lead. The following can join as collaborators:
- Academic institutions
- Businesses of any size
- Charities
- Not-for-profit organisations
- Public sector organisations
- RTOs
Non-funded partners can also join, including organisations based in the EU and elsewhere outside the UK.
Your consortium should span the V2X value chain. Innovate UK says the ideal team brings distribution network operators (DNOs) and EV manufacturers together with V2X solution providers. Your team must also include:
- At least one technical partner who is, or will become, an active participant in IEA Task 53
- Energy system expertise, either within the consortium or clearly accessible to it
An organisation can only lead one application, but it can be a collaborator on any number of others.
Your Project
Your project must:
- Have a total grant request of between £2 million and £7.5 million
- Last between 18 and 31 months
- Start by 1 June 2027 and end by 31 December 2029
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
Your project must also:
- Align with relevant V2X standards, like ISO 15118-20, and test against them
- Demonstrate multiparty interoperability at scale, in real-world conditions
- Generate multi-seasonal, real-world evidence, including quantified flexibility data and user experience results
- Include battery state-of-health monitoring for the EVs involved
- Include modelling that shows how the solution can scale beyond the project
- Make substantive contributions to IEA Task 53
- Show a credible route to market readiness by 2030
Innovate UK will fund all bidirectional V2X technologies, including:
- AC and DC charging
- Domestic and non-domestic use cases, both private and public
- Front-of-meter and behind-the-meter solutions, like vehicle-to-grid (V2G), vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-building (V2B)
- Low and high power charging
- Road-going agricultural and construction EVs
- Wired and wireless charging
Innovate UK won't fund:
- Existing commercial V2X development and operations
- Feasibility studies, fundamental research or small-scale pilots
- Non-road-going vehicles, or maritime or rail use cases
- Projects focused only on battery degradation
- Projects that cover only one part of the V2X value chain
- Projects that depend on export performance or on using domestic inputs over imported ones
- Projects that run only in non-real-world conditions, or that don't evidence multiparty interoperability
- Unidirectional charging solutions
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
The amount you can claim depends on your organisation's type and size and the sort of research your project involves.
Individual grants range from £2 million to £7.5 million.
Applying as a Company
| Project Type | Micro and Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Research* | 70% | 60% | 50% |
| Experimental Development** | 45% | 35% | 25% |
*Industrial research refers to planned research aimed at acquiring new knowledge for developing new products, processes, or services.
**Experimental development is closer to market. It involves using existing knowledge to develop or improve products, processes, or services.
Funding Example
If you're a small business with eligible costs of £4 million on an industrial research project, you could receive up to £2.8 million in grant funding. You will need to fund the remaining £1.2 million from other sources, like R&D Tax Relief, investment or loans.
No single business can receive more than £3 million in grant funding from this competition, however large the overall project. EV purchase and lease costs aren't eligible, but you can claim the cost of joining and taking part in IEA Task 53.
Applying as a Non-Commercial Organisation
Non-economic organisations can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs and are funded at higher rates:
- Up to 100% of eligible costs if you are a charity, not-for-profit, public sector organisation, research organisation, or RTO
- Up to 80% of full economic costs (FEC) if you're a Je-S-registered institution, like a university
How Do I Apply?
The deadline for applications is 27 January 2027.
Applications are submitted via Innovate UK's Innovation Funding Service (IFS) portal.
The application is split into four sections:
Project Details
This section isn't scored. It covers:
- Application details, like your project title, start date and duration
- Application team
- Project summary
- Public description
- Research category
- Scope
Most answers in this section are limited to 400 words.
Application Questions
There are 12 questions in total:
- Six unscored administrative questions covering topics like applicant location, animal testing, international collaboration and Trusted Research and Innovation
- Six scored questions covering your idea, route to market, delivery, skills, risks and benefits
You must attach a Gantt chart to the delivery question and a risk register to the risks question. You can also add a two-page appendix to your idea answer and letters of support to your skills answer.
Finances
Each organisation in your consortium enters its own project costs.
Project Impact
Every partner must complete the Project Impact questions before you submit, although they aren't scored.
Your application will be reviewed by three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
If you're successful, you'll be notified by 2 April 2027. Applications that pass the initial assessment may be invited to an interview between 22 and 24 March 2027. Your interview score replaces your initial assessment score.
Funding comes with stage gates tied to KPIs and milestones, so Innovate UK can adjust a project or end it early if it isn't making enough progress.
Like with most competitions, Innovate UK takes a 'portfolio approach' by funding projects across different technologies, markets and technological maturities. This means that a strong score won't necessarily guarantee that your application will be successful.
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