The cell battery production market is growing right alongside the electric vehicle (EV) market, and for obvious reasons. While Tesla is easily the most established company planning to produce its own batteries, a number of other companies are looking to get in on the action, as the EV battery supply market is just ramping up.
Britishvolt, a British Lithium-Ion battery company, has chosen Blyth, Northumberland in Northeast Britain for the site of its first battery production Gigafactory, set to also be the first battery Gigafactory in Britain.
The company says it will be able to produce 300,000 batteries per year once it’s at full capacity, each of which will be used to either power EVs or as a storage option for renewable energies.
Britishvolt also says it hopes to be as close to carbon-zero as possible – a feat which a number of companies, organizations, governments, and others are working towards with a world on the cusp of climate collapse.
The country’s largest battery plant for electric vehicles is to be built on the site of a coal-burning power station, BritishVolt plans to invest £2,6bn on the project in Blyth Northumberland, creating 3k jobs it is reported to be a huge investment in the NorthEast since Nissan.
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Orral Nadjari, Britishvolt CEO, said, “Blyth meets all of our exacting requirements and could be tailor made.” He continued, “It is on the doorstep of major transport links, easily accessible renewable energy and the opportunity for a co-located supply chain, meets our target to make our Gigafactory the world’s cleanest and greenest battery facility. We have had an extremely warm welcome from Ian Levy MP and Northumberland County Council and are looking forward to working with them closely on this project.”
Britishvolt’s Gigafactory project almost represents a new era of the EV trade – a model in which numerous supply and production companies can take part in the global trade, rather than just Tesla. Still, Tesla isn’t going anywhere, but it’ll be nice to have some options to help expand the market.
