Tuesday 12 June 2018

Innovative UK battery projects win share of £22m

A total of 12 battery research and development (R&D) projects in the UK have won funding totalling £22 million.

The grant is part of the government’s Faraday Battery Challenge, which aims to accelerate the research needed to develop battery technologies.

Southampton-based Ilika has won a share of the funding for its PowerDrive project, which is focusing on manufacturing its battery cell at scale in the UK and how to build ultra-fast charging technology of less than 25 minutes for a vehicle.

A consortium led by Williams Advanced Engineering is seeking to research and deliver higher power, higher energy batteries using fewer cells that last longer and charge more quickly than today’s technology.

Other projects include a McLaren Automotive-led consortium aiming to accelerate the development of electrified powertrains, a battery recycling project that hopes to develop the first UK industrial scale capability to reclaim and reuse battery essential metals - led by Cheshire-based ICoNiChem involving Jaguar LandRover - and an Aston Martin Lagonda project developing better performance battery packs.

Professor Sir mark Walport, UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive said: “Through advanced battery technology, we will unlock a new generation of electric vehicles, further improving vehicle performance and uptake, opening doors to innovative new transport ideas and significantly reducing environmental impacts.

“Today’s investment shows we are catalysing collaboration between research teams and commercial partners across the UK to make this a reality.”