Britishvolt and UKBIC sign battery cell development agreement

Britishvolt has announced a two-year multi-million pound [£] co-development framework with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to produce its next generation of battery cells – which will provide greater performance and range for electric vehicles (EVs).

Initial solutions will focus on high nickel, increased energy density, materials to produce and test batteries. 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.

Coventry-based UKBIC, a national battery manufacturing development facility providing battery manufacturing scale-up, has a fast growing reputation for battery R&D which will put Britain at the front of the race to become a battery and technology powerhouse.

This news is a major milestone in Britishvolt’s mission to help car makers on their roadmap to improved electrification and demonstrates the huge demand for batteries in the Race to Zero. It follows the announcement of Government backing of Britishvolt via an in principle offer of funding made through the Automotive Transformation Fund. This has enabled a long-term partnership with Tritax and abrdn that will deliver £1.7bn in private funding. 

Graham Hoare, President of Global Operations, Britishvolt: “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, The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre: “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. 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.”

Dr Allan Paterson, Chief Technical Officer, Britishvolt: “This is an incredibly exciting achievement, allowing us to successfully scale up our tailormade battery cells, designed specifically for customer requirements. The UK ecosystem for battery development has enabled us to get to this stage and we are immensely pleased to announce the relationship with UKBIC that will support our development activities going forward.”

Images courtesy of Britishvolt.

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