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Electric Mobility grants closing November 2026

By Andrew Holden

Six weeks is a short window. Several of the programmes below are callable infrastructure facilities running hundreds of millions of euros, which means the competition is real and the paperwork is substantial. If you are working on EV charging, software-defined vehicles, or clean urban transport, these are the live opportunities right now, not pipeline speculation.

October 2026 is a particularly dense moment for EU transport funding because the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport has stacked multiple calls on the same deadline, and Horizon Europe's Cluster 5 (climate and energy) is closing its 2026 cohort. Miss this window and the next comparable batch will not open until Q1 2027 at the earliest.

The 12 grants

Coordination of the European software-defined vehicle platform

The European Commission's Chips Joint Undertaking is funding Coordination and Support Actions to align stakeholders around the software-defined vehicle (SDV) architecture. This is not a product development grant. It funds coordination, networking, and ecosystem-building work: workshops, shared roadmaps, cross-border standards alignment. The right applicants are industry associations, technology networks, or research consortia with genuine convening power across EU automotive players.

  • Funder: European Commission (Chips Joint Undertaking)
  • Deadline: 22 September 2026
  • Amount: €1,000,000 – €2,000,000 per project
  • View on Raise Lens

Establish workplace-based charging infrastructure for trucks and buses

The Swedish Energy Agency is co-funding operational charging infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles (trucks and buses) located near business premises in Sweden. This targets fleet operators and logistics businesses looking to electrify their own operations rather than commercial charging networks. If you run a fleet or work with businesses that do, and your premises are in Sweden, this is worth a close read. Exact award amounts are not published centrally, so check the listing for the current thresholds.

New technologies and innovation: digitalisation of road transport (works)

This Connecting Europe Facility call funds concrete infrastructure works, not studies, for smart and interoperable road transport including autonomous and connected vehicle systems. Eligible applicants are transport authorities, infrastructure operators, and formal consortia. The CEF eligibility criteria are strict: projects must sit on or connect to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The total programme budget is €20 million, which suggests the Commission expects a small number of substantial projects rather than many small ones.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €20,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

External borders: studies, works or mixed

Another CEF Transport call, this one covering transport infrastructure at EU external border crossings. It funds studies, capital works, or mixed interventions that improve safe mobility and cross-border crossing capacity on the EU core network. If your project involves border-adjacent logistics hubs or intermodal infrastructure connecting EU and non-EU networks, this is the relevant entry point. Total budget is €20 million.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €20,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

European Maritime Space and Inland ports (AFIF): works

This is one of the largest single programmes in this batch, at €200 million. It supports capital works for sustainable maritime transport and inland port development, with an emphasis on multimodal mobility and emissions reduction. The framing is infrastructure-heavy: think port electrification, shore power connections, and infrastructure enabling low-emission vessels. Applicants will typically be port authorities, public bodies, or consortia with delivery capacity for large civil works.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €200,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility: road and air transport (works)

At €130 million, this is the most directly relevant programme for EV charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure builders. The Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) funds deployment of recharging and refuelling stations and related infrastructure works for road and aviation. Projects must connect to the TEN-T network. For early-stage companies, the practical route in is usually as part of a consortium led by an infrastructure operator or national delivery body.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €130,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

Rail: studies, works or mixed (general envelope)

This CEF Transport call covers rail infrastructure studies, works, and mixed projects on the EU Core Network. The €350 million envelope is the larger of two parallel rail calls (see below). Eligible applicants include public authorities, national rail bodies, and consortia. Decarbonisation of rail and electrification of non-electrified lines are explicitly within scope.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €350,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

Rail: studies, works or mixed (cohesion envelope)

A parallel rail call targeting cohesion countries specifically, with a €260 million budget. If your project sits in an EU cohesion region (broadly, lower-income member states and regions), this envelope may have more favourable co-financing rates than the general call above. Eligible applicants include public authorities, transport operators, and consortia working on rail modernisation and decarbonisation.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €260,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

Inland waterways: works

CEF Transport's inland waterways call funds infrastructure works on the EU Core Network's river and canal corridors, covering capacity, safety, and sustainability improvements. The €350 million budget is among the largest in this batch. Ports, waterway authorities, and logistics operators working on electrification or zero-emission vessel infrastructure on inland routes are the natural fit.

  • Funder: European Commission (CEF Transport)
  • Deadline: 6 October 2026
  • Amount: Programme budget €350,000,000
  • View on Raise Lens

Enhanced resilience in multimodal passenger transport through digital technologies

This Horizon Europe Innovation Action (up to €5 million per project) funds consortia developing digital tools to make multimodal passenger transport networks more resilient, specifically to disruption and climate stress. It is a research and innovation action, which means you need a credible consortium of research institutions, industry partners, and transport operators. Pure commercial applicants without a research partner will not be competitive here.

  • Funder: European Commission (Horizon Europe, Cluster 5)
  • Deadline: 8 October 2026
  • Amount: Up to €5,000,000 per project
  • View on Raise Lens

Energy efficient urban and sub-urban public transport, complemented by shared mobility

At up to €10 million per project, this is the highest per-project ceiling in the Horizon Europe batch here. It funds Innovation Actions developing energy-efficient urban public transport integrated with shared mobility, under the EU's Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission. Public transport operators, city authorities, mobility-as-a-service platforms, and technology providers are all eligible. Projects need to demonstrate a clear route to deployment in EU cities, not just research output.

  • Funder: European Commission (Horizon Europe, Cities Mission)
  • Deadline: 8 October 2026
  • Amount: Up to €10,000,000 per project
  • View on Raise Lens

Increasing competitiveness and resilience of multimodal freight transport and logistics

This Horizon Europe call (up to €6.5 million per project) funds innovation projects improving multimodal freight transport and logistics through digital and data-driven approaches. It is relevant for companies working on route optimisation, intermodal freight platforms, or electrification of logistics fleets where the work has a genuine innovation component. Consortia need to include industry as well as research bodies.

  • Funder: European Commission (Horizon Europe, Cluster 5)
  • Deadline: 8 October 2026
  • Amount: Up to €6,500,000 per project
  • View on Raise Lens

What's not in this list

This post covers grants only. Several electric mobility programmes in this window are structured as loans, blended finance facilities, or repayable advances, and one significant area of activity is government procurement contracts for EV fleet conversion and charging installation. Those sit on /opportunities under the "Loan", "Contract", and "Equity" type filters. The full set of electric mobility funding, including instruments beyond grants, is on the /sectors/electric-mobility page.

Use this in Raise Lens

Start on /opportunities and set the sector filter to "Electric Mobility", then narrow by deadline to "before 31 October 2026": this surfaces the programmes above alongside any that have been added since this post was published. Save the programmes most relevant to your geography and eligibility to a Watchlist on /funders so you get an alert if the deadline shifts or guidance notes are updated. For the Horizon Europe calls specifically, use the /draft feature to build a first-pass eligibility summary before you invest time in a full proposal, since the consortium requirements alone can rule out a solo application quickly. If you work across both road charging and maritime or rail, run a second saved search with "CEF Transport" as the funder keyword to catch any late additions to the October batch.

The six-week window here is real. The CEF Transport calls in particular tend to attract well-resourced national delivery bodies as lead applicants, so the earlier you identify a consortium partner or confirm your TEN-T eligibility, the better your position. The full electric mobility funding page, updated as new calls open, is at /sectors/electric-mobility.