Blow for car industry as britishvolt’s new owners pivot to energy storage

Howard Mustoe 27 February 2023 6:37pm GMT The new owner of Britishvolt has announced plans to pivot the business to making cells for energy storage, raising fresh doubts over whether

Britain's car industry will be able to support itself with parts in the transition to electric. Recharge Industries, the Australian company that has bought the assets of collapsed

Britishvolt, will also make batteries for the defence industry and sports cars, but is shifting away from a focus on fuel cells for mass market vehicles. The news is a blow for Britain’s

automotive industry, which has been warning that manufacturers face an uncertain future without a steady supply of locally made batteries. Batteries are the single costliest component of an

electric family car and industry executives are concerned about the long-term viability of car making in Britain if these crucial components are not made near manufacturing sites. Recharge

Industries on Monday completed the acquisition of Britishvolt’s research and its prototype batteries but has yet to buy the site where the company had planned to build a gigafactory. The

235-acre plot in Blyth, in the north east of England, is seen as one of the most promising sites for a battery plant in the UK since it has port access and is close to a railway. Recharge

Industries has until March 31 to buy the site. It has said it plans to manufacture in the UK under the Britishvolt banner. David A. Collard, founder and chief executive of New York-based

Scale Facilitation, which owns Recharge Industries, told the BBC that Britishvolt would now build batteries to store surplus power from renewable sources to sell back to the grid. The

company also has technology applicable to batteries for the defence industry and it has already supplied the Royal Navy through a subcontractor, he claimed. Recharge Industries declined to

comment further. Mr Collard said: “Our proposal combined our financial, commercial, technology and manufacturing capabilities, with a highly credible plan to put boots and equipment on the

ground quickly.”   His company is already progressing plans for a battery factory in Geelong, Australia, and Recharge Industries said it is confident of turning Britishvolt into “an advanced

green energy project”. More than 200 staff lost their jobs when Britishvolt collapsed in January. The company was backed by Glencore and had billed itself as the UK's battery champion.

It attracted support from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Government had earmarked £100m for the company. However, ministers were reluctant to hand over money after milestones

were not met. Britishvolt's founder Orral Nadjari was betting that the planned huge ramp-up of electric car making would force the hand of big car makers and prompt them to commit to

advanced orders for batteries. However, orders did not come quickly enough to sustain the business. Recharge Industries has taken on 26 staff as part of Monday’s deal. Of the UK's

largest car makers, so far only Nissan has secured local supply of batteries by building its own plant near its car factory in Sunderland. Companies including Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, Toyota

and Vauxhall-owner Stellantis all rely on imports.