Britishvolt is to anchor its UK battery scale-up facilities in the West Midlands with the announcement that it is to build a new facility with an investment exceeding £200m (US$251m) in partnership with Prologis.
Britishvolt has already developed pre-A battery samples at WMG in Warwick and is scaling up its A-Sample cell formulations at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry. This £200m investment will enable Britishvolt to develop new formulations and formats to enable higher performance and more affordable cells.
Paul Franklin, property director, Britishvolt, commented, “This is another important milestone for Britishvolt and the automotive industry. I am delighted to see Britishvolt lead the UK’s journey into re-industrialization with the first full-scale battery gigaplant. The new scale-up facilities announced today will help the UK build on its home-grown battery intellectual property and level up the country ready for the energy transition.”
The new site – which will support the start up of gigaplant operations in 2024 – will create upward of 150 highly skilled technology jobs and help the company meet cumulative demand in excess of 7GWh in 2024 and 2025 from MoUs with Lotus and Aston Martin as well as other commitments.
“Partnering with innovative technology brand Britishvolt has been a pleasure,” said Tom Price, capital leasing and deployment director, Prologis. “The reputation of Hams Hall and the location’s connections to the UK automotive sector has allowed us to embark on a wider conversation with Britishvolt. With battery technology seen as the way forward, it’s exciting to be working in this growing sector.”