£5.4 million funding for five-strong battery development consortium

A consortium, led by Thurso-based AGM Batteries, has been awarded funding towards a £5.4 million project to develop the next generation of battery packs for high performance, low carbon vehicles.

The UK Automotive Battery Supply Chain project aims to capitalise on world leading UK innovations in the area of battery technology. Currently most of the technology within the battery systems used by the UK automotive industry is sourced from overseas suppliers, so this project aims to capitalise on the UK’s strong battery technology research base and bring production back to the UK to serve demand from a changing automotive industry, as they drive to deliver innovative ways to reduce carbon emissions and improve performance.

The collaborative project combines UK innovations and knowledge from five partners; AGM Batteries (a battery cell manufacturer), Dukosi (a leader in smart battery management technology), Johnson Matthey Battery Systems (a battery pack manufacturer), Warwick Manufacturing Group (an academic group with specialist battery knowledge and facilities) and Cosworth (a world leading high performance powertrain developer).

The project will allow the five partners to each bring unique capabilities and technologies into the development of a market leading high performance battery pack. At the end of the project the consortium will be able to manufacture these batteries in the UK, creating in excess of 50 new jobs.

Funding has been provided by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), which was set up at the end of 2013 as a 10-year £1 billion partnership between industry and government to build UK industrial capability through the research, development and industrialisation of low carbon propulsion technologies.

APC director for technology and projects, Jon Beasley said: “The announcement of the fourth round competition winners demonstrates the government’s on-going commitment to supporting the UK’s low carbon advanced propulsion system innovation ecosystem. Co-investment in technological developments to be delivered by industry-led consortia, range from high risk incremental growth programmes to innovative cutting edge research and development, showing the UK is committed to establishing itself as a global centre for the promotion and development of low carbon propulsion systems.”