LONDON - Electric vehicle EV battery startup Britishvolt said on Monday 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 gears up for mass production.
Demand for nickel is expected to go up over the next decade as EVs go mainstream. Nickel bolsters energy storage in a battery's cathode, which in turn extends an EV's range.
The auto industry is trying to boost the EV range with large investments in research into more energy-dense batteries.
Britishvolt has reached a two-year multi-million pound agreement with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre UKBIC to develop and build its next generation of sample battery cells for mass production and commercialisation.
The UKBIC is a government-funded facility that is designed to help the British car industry bring new battery technologies to market.
Britishvolt has secured UK government backing for its planned battery plant in northern England, unlocking 1.7 billion pounds $2.31 billion in private funding.
The startup's 30 gigawatt-hour GWh plant in Blyth is expected to start production in 2023. It will be built in three phases and should be capable of producing a battery pack for over 300,000 vehicles annually when it reaches peak production in 2027.