Britishvolt targets performance car makers for battery supply
BRITISHVOLT WILL TARGET makers of performance cars and commercial vehicles with two different battery chemistries from its new EV battery factory in Blyth, Northumberland, it has said.
The company’s ambitious plan to become the UK’S biggest EV battery provider was given a significant boost after it attracted £1.7 billion of mostly private-equity funding to help fund the giant plant, which is on course to start production in 2024.
Shortly after announcing its funding boost, Britishvolt confirmed that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Lotus for its batteries to be used in a new electric sports car – thought to be the Hethelbuilt Type 135 two-seater that is due in 2026.
Britishvolt has 29 “active engagements” with specialist customers, claimed Graham Hoare, its president of global operations and former Ford of Britain boss.
“We’re exploring relationships with mainstream companies as well, but the bulk of efforts are in [the performance car and commercial vehicle] spaces,” he told Autocar.
The company will clearly need volume customers to reach its production capacity goal of 48GWH by 2028. Even the first-phase plan of 11GWH is enough for 110,000 vehicles annually, which is going to be tough to hit when focusing on start-up companies or niche sports car manufacturers.
“Those really premium brand volumes aren’t significant, but added together they’re meaningful volume,” said Hoare.
However, Britishvolt is also looking beyond that. “The sports business is actually remarkably broad,” said Hoare, referencing BMW’S M and Mercedes’ AMG sub-brands as examples of where companies might want to fit a more expensive but more energy-dense and higher-performance battery. “We offer something very differentiating.”
Britishvolt’s two battery types are both classed as lithium ion but are very different in composition.
For sports cars, the chemistry is NMC, standing for nickel-manganese-cobalt in reference to the cathode material, which is by far the most expensive element. High-nickel variants yield longer range but are more expensive.
For commercial customers, the chemistry is LFP, standing for lithium-iron-phosphate. These are cheaper and lower-maintenance cathode materials, but the trade-off is a reduced energy density, meaning you get a shorter range or need a bigger pack.
Tesla uses LFP batteries for some standard-range Model 3s, but Britishvolt is targeting just the commercial vehicle side.
“We think for commercial vehicles it’s extremely relevant. It’s isolated from cost exposures from cobalt and nickel and it’s more stable on pricing,” Hoare said.
“Some of the NMC formulations are sourced from cathode manufacturers. What we do is put all the other ingredients together – about 15 parts.”
Britishvolt will face a tough rival just down the road in the form of Envision AESC’S new battery plant next to the Nissan Sunderland car factory, with its promised output of 11GWH from 2024, eventually rising to 38GWH. But the £1.7bn goes a long way to ensuring that it will be competitive.