Britishvolt and Lotus to develop new battery tech
Britishvolt's recently-greenlit Blythe plant could soon be churning out high-performance batteries for Lotus Cars, as the two sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a new type of battery tech.
The collaboration should see the creation of a new Lotus electric model, with the batteries being produced by Britishvolt and propulsion systems being developed by the luxury automaker.
Read more: Britishvolt secures £1.7bn for Blyth battery gigafactory
The battery will be specifically tailored to the needs of Lotus Cars and aid in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two are set to collaborate across their facilities based in the West Midlands.
"This MoU demonstrates that the legacy one-size-fits-all cell strategy is no longer valid in the rapidly developing electric mobility market", Britishvolt CCO Oliver Jones said in a statement.
"It also reinforces Britishvolt’s differentiation strategy of close customer intimacy and partnering to fully optimize battery solutions and enable the differentiation so important to these iconic brands & products.
"As in Formula 1, this high-performance research and development will ultimately cascade down to influence the electro chemistries of more affordable batteries and EVs", he added.
The Blythe plant forms part of the UK government's plans to turn the Northeast of England into a tech hub for manufacturing as well as its plans to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.
It was recently awarded £1.7 billion in funding through investors Tritax and Abrdn, with £100 million being granted by the UK government's Automotive Transformation Fund.
With an estimated 90GWh of batteries produced per annum needed to meet demand - roughly 11% of the entire market demand across Europe - the country is looking to significantly increase domestic production.
“Lotus is delighted to be collaborating with Britishvolt to develop new battery cell technology to showcase the thrilling performance that a Lotus EV sports car can deliver", said Matt Windle, Lotus Cars' Managing Director.
Read more: Bentley to go all-electric by 2030, first BEV by 2025
He added: "These are the first exciting steps on the journey towards an all-new electric sports car from Lotus. Last year we committed Lotus to a pure-electric future, and in the first month of this year, we announce another significant step on that journey.
"In the coming months we will be unveiling the Type 132, an all-new and all-electric Lotus SUV and we’ve confirmed three more EVs are on the way.”
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