---
title: "COV - CVLR Vehicle Control System"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL"
published: "2026-06-23"
---

# COV - CVLR Vehicle Control System

Buyer: COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8

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## Summary

Coventry City Council is progressing the procurement for the "COV - CVLR Vehicle Control System" in the goods industry category, located in Coventry, United Kingdom. The procurement process is currently in the planning stage, focusing on a pre-market engagement scheduled for 16-17 July 2026. This engagement aims to explore market capability and delivery models for an integrated control and autonomy solution for the CVLR demonstrator vehicle. Key documents required for participation, including a Non-Disclosure Agreement, must be submitted by 12:00pm, 08 July 2026. The process is part of a larger investment, valued at £1.3 million, with a contract period starting from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2028.

This tender opportunity is ideal for businesses involved in transport equipment, autonomous systems integration, or those offering research and experimental development services. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are also encouraged to participate. Given the focus on autonomous vehicle demonstrated technologies, companies with expertise in safety assurance, vehicle control systems, and intellectual property management might find significant growth opportunities. The procurement is structured to potentially favour a consortium model, opening avenues for prime contractors or partnership-based approaches to secure the contract. Businesses interested in becoming lead contractors should be prepared to showcase their capacity to manage a supply chain and understand the Council's requirements for safety case responsibilities, intellectual property, and programme delivery.

## Notice

The purpose of the pre-market engagement is to test market capability, appetite and delivery models for providing the control and autonomy solution for the CVLR demonstrator vehicle. This should include not only the autonomous control system, but also its integration with the vehicle control system, existing vehicle subsystems and the associated safety assurance.

### Planning Information

Market engagement is planned for 16-17 July 2026. The purpose of the pre-market engagement is to test market capability, appetite and delivery models for providing the control and autonomy solution for the CVLR demonstrator vehicle. This should include not only the autonomous control system, but also its integration with the vehicle control system, existing vehicle subsystems and the associated safety assurance. 
This requirement is dictated by constraints of both time and space. Potential lead contractors should, however, be prepared to demonstrate during any subsequent procurement the means by which they are able to, and would, potentially lead supply-chain structure in conjunction with their role in a potential partnership with the Council.
In particular, the engagement should help the Council understand:
• whether the market can deliver an integrated control and autonomy solution through a single supplier, or whether a prime contractor / consortium / partner model is more realistic
• whether the tender specification is technically achievable, proportionate and clear enough for suppliers to price and deliver against
• where suppliers would expect responsibility boundaries to sit between autonomous control, vehicle control, vehicle integration, existing vehicle hardware, testing and safety assurance
• what assumptions, exclusions, dependencies or Council-furnished information suppliers would require before tender
• what safety case, functional safety, independent assessment and wider vehicle-level assurance responsibilities suppliers would expect to own, and what residual responsibilities would remain with the Council
• whether Phase 1 supervised trial capability can be delivered in a way that does not close the door to future Phase 2 driverless operation
• what contract structure and delivery model would give the Council the best chance of achieving a safe, integrated and mixed traffic capable demonstrator.
• Procurement structure: how best to structure the procurement in respect of the Control System and Automation Requirements, including whether these should be procured together or whether there is benefit in allowing for separate lots or bids.
• Programme and delivery: whether suppliers can commit to a defined delivery programme and key milestones, and any constraints affecting delivery timescales.
• Risk and liability (including integration and interfaces): the extent to which suppliers are willing to accept responsibility for system integration and interface risk, and their position on liability caps and exclusions.
• Intellectual property: given that the VLR is a patented project, the extent to which the Council can secure appropriate ownership or sufficiently broad rights to use, share and rely on outputs across the programme.
• Payment structure: whether suppliers would accept a milestone based payment approach, including retention mechanisms and the application of liquidated damages.
Spaces at the market engagement event will be limited and distributed on a first-come, first served basis. Booking information for the market engagement will be released on on a fully executed NDA between organisations and the Council. To access the documents relating to the market engagement exercise, interested organisations must register on www.csw-jets.co.uk and express an interest in the project COV-24503 CVLR Vehicle Control System. Once interest has been expressed, interested bidders must download the template Non-Disclosure Agreement, published via 'Clarifications', complete, sign and return to the Council through the 'Correspondence' function on www.csw-jets.co.uk. Completed and signed Non-Disclosure Agreements must be returned to the Council no later than 12:00pm, 08 July 2026.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059060-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Jun 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 1 Sep 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Nov 2026 - 31 Oct 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £1,300,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | COVENTRY CITY COUNCIL |
| Locality | COVENTRY |
| Post town | Coventry |
| Postcode | CV1 5RR |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands |
| ITL 3 | TLG33 Coventry |
| Local authority | Coventry |
| Electoral ward | St Michael's |
| Westminster constituency | Coventry South |
| Delivery location | TLG33 Coventry |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 33 - Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products
- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 33952000 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 34000000 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 73100000 - Research and experimental development services
- 73300000 - Design and execution of research and development

## Release History

- 23 Jun 2026 at 14:20 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059060-2026
- 17 Jun 2026 at 10:35 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057027-2026
- 17 Jun 2026 at 10:29 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057020-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059060-2026
  23rd June 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057027-2026
  17th June 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057020-2026
  17th June 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06b6c8.json.