Australian firm Recharge Industries, which is backed by US-based financiers Scale Facilitation Partners, has been named as the preferred bidder for Britishvolt. Britishvolt had planned to build a battery gigafactory near Blyth, Northumberland but ran into cashflow problems that became public in the last quarter of 2022.
In May-2020, we needed a lift. We’d all been through the first and arguably harshest lockdown and Prime Minister Boris Johnson modified the COVID-19 message from “stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives” to “stay alert, control the virus, save lives”. In other words, not knowing that further lockdowns would follow, the PM was working towards easing restrictions and reopening the economy. Within the automotive sector many tyre specialists, garages and fast-fits had closed along with OEM factories and car dealerships. One result of the latter was that car production figures fell to post-war lows. What better time to back a British electric vehicle battery manufacturing gigafactory? Several projects came to the fore. There was even talk of Elon Musk considering a Tesla gigafactory in the UK. But it was BritishVolt that Boris Johnson put his name to.
As is being reported around the world with varying levels of schadenfreude, last year UK car production reached its lowest level since 1956. A total of 775,014 cars were produced in the UK in 2022, 40.5 per cent below 2019 figures and way under half the record production of 1,971,311 achieved half a century ago. The SMMT strives to highlight the positive news within this result, and stresses that production of electric vehicles reached a new record during 2022.
Test specialist Horiba Mira expects the new ‘rules of origin’ clause will drive a surge in demand for development and testing of EV battery packs.
It comes as last month Aston Martin boss and Nissan planning chief Dr Andy Palmer issued a warning to the UK government that the Brexit trade deal, alongside ambitious plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, presents a risk of “crippling tariffs” for the UK automotive industry unless the sector invests heavily in domestic battery production for electric vehicles.
Britishvolt appointed William Reynolds as chief financial officer effective 1 January 2021. Reynolds has over 20 years of experience with “large-scale world-wide capital fund raising, strategic planning, financial and operations management and business development in Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East”, according to the company.
Despite signing an MoU regarding a similar project in Wales in July, Britishvolt has appointed a construction company (ISG) to build a new gigaplant in Blyth, Northumberland, with construction planned to commence in Summer 2021. The result of £2.6 billion investment, it will begin producing lithium-ion batteries for the automotive and renewable energy industries at the end of 2023. Construction of further phases will continue until the end of 2027.
Advanced battery technology investor Britishvolt has announced its plans to make the Mira Technology Park Campus near Coventry the home of its 5000sqm global headquarters. The company wants its new HQ to be fully operational by 2022. The news follows the UK government’s decision to bring forward its ban on the production of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Britishvolt said the facility, in the traditional heartland of the country’s automotive industry, will spearhead the development of battery technologies for future electrified vehicles. Britishvolt adds that it wants to expand the site further to “bring highly skilled and specialist jobs to the West Midlands.” The company wants to build the UK’s first battery gigaplant, supporting the vehicle parc’s transition to electric engines. It is targeting the fourth quarter of 2023 to begin production, having signed an MoU with the Welsh government in 2020.
Britishvolt, which is purportedly making one of the UK’s largest-ever industrial investments, has announced the appointment of Ray Macera as project director for the construction of Britain’s first battery gigaplant. The new gigaplant is being designed by leading Italian design experts Pininfarina. It is set to be sited on a former RAF base in Bro Tathan, South Wales and will house Britishvolt’s manufacturing and research and development facilities.
Britishvolt has appointed automotive specialist Charles Morgan, to both its advisory board and board of directors, as a non-executive director.
Charles Morgan, whose grandfather founded world-renowned British brand Morgan in 1909, combines his automotive heritage with a deep global industry knowledge, and a passion for a sustainable, green future. In his new role, he will become a valuable contributor in guiding Britishvolt to realising the full potential of the UK automotive supply chain. Considering his experience in automotive production, the news is reminiscent of earlier analysis that gigafactory battery production could be poised to replace lost OE vehicle construction in the UK post-Brexit and now in the post-corona context.
Following the news that Wales is the preferred location for Britishvolt’s proposed UK Gigafactory, Britishvolt has appoint Isobel Sheldon, as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Head of the Advisory Board.
Britishvolt has shortlisted Bro Tathan in South Wales and one other site for the UK’s first 30 plus GWh Gigafactory. Britishvolt eliminated 40 other proposals in the process. When the project is finalised, the company says the initial wave of £1.2 billion of investment into the site will eventually lead to around 3,500 jobs.
Roughly a year after reports suggested the UK could become home to a gigafactory, AMTE Power and Britishvolt announced plans to investigate collaborating to build the UK’s first full cycle battery cell GigaPlant, servicing the automotive and energy storage markets. Both parties have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) focussed on each other`s complementary ambitions to create and expand an onshore manufacturing supply chain. The successful outcome of the collaboration would enable scalable production of a diverse product portfolio of lithium ion batteries to support the country’s Road to Zero targets and unprecedented transition to electrification.
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