2 minute read - 20th December 2022
Hyperbat secures Lotus Evija battery contract
Hyperbat, a manufacturer of high-performance electric vehicle battery packs, has secured a multi-million pound contract to produce battery packs for the all-electric Lotus Evija, the world’s most powerful production car.
Hyperbat is a joint venture between Williams Advanced Engineering and Unipart Manufacturing Group, established to support the scale-up of EV production in the UK. Full production of the 90kWh lithium-ion battery packs will take place at a brand new production line at Unipart’s site in Coventry.
The mid-mounted battery pack will support a target output of 2000 PS and performance targets of 0-62mph in under three seconds, and a top speed of over 200mph. The manufacturing process involves assembling 12,000 components split across 500 unique parts and 100,000 welds in each pack. This is a complex process for which Hyperbat employs a unique system using cameras, sensors and vision systems to monitor data for each of the battery components.
Hyperbat has secured a contract to supply battery packs for the Lotus Evija – the world’s most powerful production car / Picture: Lotus Cars
Andy Davis, director at Hyperbat, said: “To win a contract with Lotus to supply battery packs for the world’s most powerful production car demonstrates the exceptional technology and manufacturing expertise we have at Hyperbat. This comes from decades of experience as a first-tier automotive industry manufacturer and is an example of how Hyperbat can continue Britain’s heritage at the frontier of technological innovation in the automotive industry, coupled with Unipart’s expertise in execution.
“Required performance levels will be facilitated by our proprietary welding and joining technologies, which, alongside the deployment of the latest digital technologies, are critical to achieving the highest levels of performance and product quality. We are one of the few companies to have invested in this advanced manufacturing technology which is enhanced by the research and development work carried out by the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), who offer on-site support to our R&D team and are a perfect example of industry and academia working in partnership.”
Mark Edwards, executive director for engineering at Lotus Cars, added: “We have been working with Unipart and Hyperbat for several years and are confident in their ability to deliver the quality of product and the level of Tier 1 manufacturing support Lotus needs for such a prestigious project. With this in mind, we are therefore delighted to appoint Hyperbat for battery production for Lotus’ first fully electric hypercar.”
Hyperbat has experience across a wide variety of high-performance road car and global electric motorsport programmes and is able to access this expertise and learning to support new customers. The company says it is committed to selecting the best and most competitive supply solutions and is actively engaged with the Advanced Propulsion Centre to grow the UK’s EV supply chain capability through its “H1perChain” project.