UK well positioned to build a successful battery cell factory: official

New York — The UK is in a strong position to build out a local electric vehicle battery supply chain, and is also in need of cell manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand, Jay Nagley who works in research and development on the automotive team at the UK Department for International Trade said Dec. 9.

Presenting at automotiveEV Live virtual conference Nagley echoed concerns from the wider industry that the UK required battery cell capacity as EV adoption continues apace.

He told the audience there was a "strong need" for production of cells, and that, in his view, the UK was in good position to have a successful battery supply chain, with a strong home-grown chemicals industry.

He also underlined that it was not only cell manufacturing that was required, but also local component production and supply chains.

The UK government may struggle to meet its ambitious 10-point sustainability plan without investment in and the construction of home-grown battery capacity, causing unease within the industry.

The 10-point plan announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson aims to help achieve the UK's legally binding goal of becoming carbon neutral, or having net zero carbon emissions, by 2050.

The coronavirus pandemic has amplified the move toward a sustainable future, and for the necessity of local supply chains. Hagley was quick to note that EVs are only as green as the energy that powers then, and that the UK was making great strides in a move toward more reliance on renewable energy to power the transition.

There remain two major bugbears for EV adoption on a larger scale, cost of the vehicle and charging ability.

Nagley said that range anxiety was declining, as battery technology improved efficiency and range, however "recharge anxiety" was now more common.

By this he referred to charging cars on the move, suggesting that people fret over whether a charge point will be working, and if they are on the right network to pay for power. He said this is a "big issue" and that a universal payment system needed to be implemented, something as simple as debit or credit card payment.

On the matter of affordability, Nagley said people needed to flip that equation on its head. The outright price of a vehicle was likely always to be more expensive than a traditional vehicle, but over the lifetime of the vehicle EVs made economic sense.

One part of the supply chain that he was a little skeptical of was local supply of raw material lithium. He said that although investigations are currently underway in Cornwall, there were no assurances commercial mining of lithium in the UK would be a success.

Lithium in Cornwall

Back in October UK-based explorer Cornish Lithium closed its crowdfunding round at GBP5.2 million ($6.7 million), well above its original target of GBP1.5 million to help funds its goal of creating a battery metals hub for the UK.

"To be so massively oversubscribed in only three days is an amazing vote of confidence in Cornish Lithium, the team, and our plans for the creation, in Cornwall, of a vital new industry for the UK economy," CEO and founder Jeremy Wrathall said.

Wrathall has previously said that the UK government needs to "step up" and give a boost to the UK's EV gigaplant ambitions, otherwise the country faced a "bleak" EV manufacturing future.

The CEO said the UK did not want to lose anymore auto-related jobs. On the subject of local supply chains, he said that it would be a good move to have a battery-cell factory in Cornwall, to help process the developer's lithium.

On Dec. 9 Sanjiv Takyar head of innovation, solutioning and strategic marketing, automotive and industrial solutions, EU and North America at CHEP, said that due to a lack of investment in raw materials batteries could actually increase in cost over the next couple of years.

Takyar was also a panelist at the automotiveEV virtual event, where he said that more investment was required in battery raw materials to prevent a price spike and resulting slowdown in adoption.

Europe, and particularly the UK, needs to secure an EV battery supply chain to maintain a competitive edge in the sector, according to Britishvolt founder Orral Nadjari in a recent conversation with S&P Global Platts.

Britishvolt is aiming to build the UK's first battery gigafactory, with first run scheduled for 2023.

Nadjari said the coronavirus pandemic had created an opportunity for Britishvolt, as it highlighted the need for local supply chains.