Bright sparks: The case for UK battery production

The government may have softened its stance on the proposed ban of new petrol and diesel passenger cars, but the global automotive industry is still heading rapidly towards electrification. It’s a trend that’s playing out across other industries too, from residential energy storage to aerospace. And it’s one that’s opening up major gaps in the supply chain – particularly in the UK.

The challenge with battery cells is that they’re very difficult to produce at a reasonable cost in anything other than huge volumes. Outsourcing is fraught with risk due to the finely controlled manufacturing processes, where the slightest change in temperature or humidity can result in a batch of bad cells. Meanwhile, setting up your own production line requires huge investment and guaranteed volumes.

We’ve seen three sites in the UK that we think would be suitable for a gigafactory, including one that had the advantage of being a free port. We think the way forward will be a smaller size of factory – perhaps in the region of 3 or 4 GWh – probably with a number of different lines, producing different formats but to a similar chemistry