Britishvolt extends partnership to accelerate battery production

Battery technology giant Britishvolt has extended its contract with WMG at the University of Warwick, to develop battery cell technologies in a multi-million-pound deal.

Following a 12-month project, Britishvolt and WMG will be partnering to research battery cell development and create a faster route to market.

Over the next two years, WMG will conduct research using Britishvolt target materials sets, formulations and cell designs. These will then be tested according to Britishvolt’s agreed protocols.

Dr Allan Paterson the chief technical officer at Britishvolt said: “The battery science, advanced materials and cell prototyping expertise and capability at WMG has directly, and positively, supported our battery technology development programme.

“This gives us not only an excellent basis to progress from, as we seek to scale and commercialise our technologies, but the relationship also enables Britishvolt to continue to develop our products further, as we continually strive to deliver best-in-class, market-leading, cell technologies to our customers.”

The project is helping Britishvolt deliver a 38GWh battery Gigaplant in Northumberland, which will quickly increase the availability of batteries required at commercial scale for the electric vehicle market. It will produce enough cells far in excess of 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs per year.

Professor David Greenwood, the CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG: “This industry will be critical for the future of the UK automotive and energy sectors.

“WMG has been investing over the last decade in the research and development capabilities needed to help Britishvolt and other battery companies to be internationally competitive now and in the future.”

The Northumberland Gigaplant will have a total capacity of over 38 Gigawatt Hours by the end of the decade and will deliver around 3,000 direct skilled jobs and another 5,000 plus in the associated supply chains.

Britishvolt has also recently announced that it will develop its UK battery cell scale-up facility in the West Midlands.

With a budget exceeding £200m, the plan looks to create upwards of 150 highly skilled, well-paid jobs at its Hams Hall site.

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