Warwick University secures research grant for advancing battery materials

The University of Warwick, situated in England’s West Midlands, has received millions of pounds to enhance the production of crucial materials for electric car batteries in the United Kingdom.

A total of GBP 12 million in funding has been granted by the Faraday Battery Challenge to two organizations: the High-Value Manufacturing Catapult at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and CPI at NETPark (North East Technology Park) in County Durham.

This funding will be utilized to establish the newly established Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre (AMBIC).

The center will serve as a bridge between academic research and battery production, with a primary focus on improving the efficiency of batteries, along with equipment and skills development.

“The centre is needed to help the UK develop the electric vehicle batteries of the future, with reduced costs, more sustainable materials and improved performance,” the university said in a statement.

“Electric vehicle batteries make up around half the cost of a new electric vehicle, so reducing the cost of their production is crucial to lowering the cost of EVs to parity with combustion engine vehicles.”

“The funds are part of a wider investment strategy by the Faraday Battery Challenge and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to ramp up Britain’s battery production and infrastructure to boost the UK’s domestic battery supply chain.”

David Greenwood, CEO of the centre said: “Cathode and anode active materials make up more than 50% of the value of an automotive battery cell.”

“For the UK to take its great academic research into production, and to capture the billions of pounds of resulting economic value in the UK, we need facilities which allow Britain to scale up and fully evaluate new materials.This investment, alongside the combined skillsets of CPI and WMG will provide that capability for the UK.”

The funds are designated specifically to accelerate the expansion of battery materials manufacturing in the UK. It is only through increasing domestic battery production on a larger scale that the electric vehicle (EV) industry can prevent supply and demand bottlenecks. By fortifying the UK’s supply chains for battery materials, WMG collaborates with UKBIC and other partners to establish a more robust supply chain.

Thomas Bartlett, deputy director of the Faraday Battery Challenge, said: “AMBIC will bring together two emerging regions of battery innovation and manufacturing: the North-East and Midlands, under one facility to de-risk and accelerate battery materials scale up in the UK.

“Through this investment, we will establish a truly world-class facility to support the growth of a battery materials supply chain. With AMBIC and previous investments in cell, module and pack scale-up at UKBIC and R&D in the wider ecosystem, the UK will now be in a position to support businesses from ‘powder to pack’ and from lab to commercial scale.”

Katherine Bennett, CEO of Catapult, said: “The next generation of battery technologies are critical to the green energy transition and a major opportunity for UK manufacturing. Realising that potential will require combining our collective expertise and this investment…. is a brilliant example of that in action.”

Frank Millar, CEO at CPI, added: “AMBIC will enhance the UK’s existing competitive advantages in batteries technology.”