2 minute read - 25th January 2022
Britishvolt to partner with UKBIC on battery cell development
Britishvolt has announced a two-year multi-million pound co-development framework with the Coventry-based UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to develop, assemble and manufacture its next generation of battery cells.
Initial solutions will focus on high nickel and increased energy density materials to produce and test batteries with greater performance and range.
The partnership comes just days after the government announced its support for the Britishvolt project with an in principle offer of funding made through the Automotive Transformation Fund. This enabled a long-term partnership with Trixtax and abrdn that will deliver £1.7bn in private funding.
Britishvolt has agreed a multi-million pound partnership with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (pictured) to develop its next generation of battery cells / Picture: UKBIC
Graham Hoare, president of global operations at Britishvolt, said:“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. 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.
“This is further endorsement of the work the UK government has done to help develop the world’s best battery ecosystem and accelerate Britain into pole position in Europe. 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.”
Jeff Pratt, managing director of the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, added: “We’re delighted to be entering into a two-year, multi-million pound agreement with Britishvolt to develop, assemble and manufacture their next generation sample cells for mass production and commercialisation. 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 upskilling their workforce, and we welcome the opportunity to support Britishvolt on their journey.”
The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, which opened in July 2021, 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 state-of-the-art facility has been developed to support UK industry to bring to market battery technologies for future electrification.