Battery pioneer Britishvolt has entered into a two-year, multi-million pound agreement with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to develop, assemble and manufacture its next generation sample cells for mass production and commercialization.
Britishvolt has also successfully developed its first Production Intent next generation Li-ion cells, which are exceeding its expectations, using UK developed intellectual property, and puts Britishvolt on a good path to its first commercial products.
The company is developing improved high energy, high nickel Li-ion battery cells for electric vehicles that give customers increased battery performance with longer range for vehicles and brand specific characteristics. Indeed, high technical maturity development cells manufactured and tested at the close of 2021, at UKBIC, beat expectations and show that Britishvolt’s research and technology developments, combined with UKBIC industrialisation and scale up capability, are already promising the battery cell solutions of the future.
“UKBIC is an essential ingredient in BV’s accelerated roadmap to market, providing a platform and environment that delivers high quality development cells in a time period that would be almost impossible in other territories. We are extremely pleased with the service offered by UKBIC and the promising results we’re seeing,” said Graham Hoare, President of Global Operations, Britishvolt.
“Low carbon, sustainable battery cells, and associated R&D, are the essential ingredients on the glidepath to net zero. Only responsibly produced batteries will lead to a successful energy transition,” he continued. “By working with our customers early we can offer flexibility and specific attributes linked to their application requirements. This is a vital USP and signals that the age of “off the peg” battery production is no longer suitable for all.
The UKBIC, which was opened in July 2021 by the prime minister, is a national battery manufacturing development facility providing battery manufacturing scale-up and facilitating upskilling in the battery sector. The publicly-funded facility welcomes manufacturers, entrepreneurs, researchers and educators, and can be accessed by any organisation looking to scale battery technologies – if that technology will bring green jobs and prosperity to the UK.
The facility, described by the prime minister as “a beacon of innovation and ingenuity,” has been developed to support UK industry to bring to market battery technologies for future electrification.
In addition, the government recently announced its support for Britishvolt, on 21st January, via an in principle offer of funding made through the Automotive Transformation Fund. This enabled a long-term partnership with Tritax and abrdn that will deliver £1.7bn in private funding. This historic investment will help propel the UK’s successful energy transition on the road to zero.
Britishvolt’s planned Gigaplant in Northumberland aligns with the Government’s ambition to level-up the Northeast, protect the UK’s national automotive sector and put Britain at the centre of the global battery industry.
“We’re delighted to be entering into a two-year, multimillion pound agreement with Britishvolt to develop, assemble and manufacture their next generation sample cells for mass production and commercialisation,” said Jeff Pratt, Managing Director, The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre.
“The manufacture of low carbon battery cells are vital for a successful energy transition to Net Zero. We are here to support UK companies scaling up their battery production and up skilling their workforce, and we welcome the opportunity to support Britishvolt on their journey.”
