Britishvolt & UKBIC develop next-gen battery
Emerging UK battery cell manufacturer Britishvolt has signed a two-year, multi-million-pound contract with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to further develop and manufacture its high nickel electric vehicle sample cells for mass production.
The UKBIC national facility was established in 2021 to foster battery development and production and is open to all companies working on batteries for electric vehicles, rail vehicles, aerospace, industrial and domestic appliances and static energy storage. The UKBIC has an 18,500 square metre research facility in the UK industrial city of Coventry.
According to Britishvolt, the UKBIC has also been involved in the development of the cells that will be manufactured at the planned Gigafactory in Blyth when production starts. The company says that the development cells of high technical maturity manufactured and tested at UKBIC at the end of 2021 are “exceeding expectations.” Britishvolt says that the success of the development process demonstrates “that Britishvolt’s world-class research and technology developments, combined with UKBIC industrialisation and scale up capability, are already promising the battery cell solutions of the future.” Production is scheduled to start in late 2023.
“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,” said Graham Hoare, president of Britishvolt. “We are extremely pleased with the service offered by UKBIC and the promising results we’re seeing.”
“The manufacture of low carbon battery cells are vital for a successful energy transition to Net Zero,” says Jeff Pratt, managing director of the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. “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.”
Britishvolt secured a £100 million grant from the UK government’s Automotive Transformation Fund a few days ago for its planned battery cell factory at Blyth in the northern English county of Northumberland, paving the way for £1.7 billion in private funding from two investors.
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