UK government backs Britishvolt’s plans for domestic EV battery factory

The factory will start producing enough batteries for over 300,00 electric vehicles a year, enabling the automotive industry to reach a zero emissions future and significantly increased production of electric behicles.

The governments support will also allow further support from private investors, with the project set to create 3,000 direct highly-skilled jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Britishvolt’s plan to build a new gigafactory in Northumberland is a strong testament to the skilled workers of the North East and the UK’s new place at the helm of the global green industrial revolution.

“Backed by government and private sector investment, this new battery factory will boost the production of electric vehicles in the UK, whilst levelling up opportunity and bringing thousands of new highly skilled jobs to communities in our industrial heartlands.”

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “In this global race between countries to secure vital battery production, this government is proud to make the investment necessary to ensure UK’s retains its place as one of the best locations in the world for auto manufacturing.”

The UK government recently announced £350 million of funding for the Automotive Transformation Fund.

On Monday, Britishvolt said that it has signed an agreement with a UK government-backed research facility to develop batteries with high nickel content and more-energy dense materials as it prepares for mass production.

The demand for nickel is expected to jump over the next decade as EVs become mainstream. Nickel bolsters energy storage in a battery’s cathode, which then furthers an EV’s range.

Britishvolt also said it has achieved a two-year, multi-million-pound agreement with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to develop, assemble its next generation of sample battery cells for mass production and commercialisation.

The UKBIC is a government-funded facility built to aid the British car industry to bring new battery technologies to market.