Britishvolt raises £40m for EV battery factory

UK electric vehicle (EV) battery startup Britishvolt has secured a £40m investment from mining company Glencore as part of a wider funding round targeting a £200m close.

The West Midlands-headquartered company will use the funds to develop its battery manufacturing facility, which the company claims will be able to produce enough battery cells for 300,000 electric car batteries per year.

Britishvolt is attempting to double its current funds as part of an ambitious plan to construct what will be one of the UK’s only major battery factories.

This is the latest in a series of investments into the British battery startup from Glencore, which has previously provided millions of pounds to Britishvolt in prior funding rounds, leading to a valuation of more than $1bn.

Glencore has also committed to supplying the battery firm’s Northumberland Gigafactory with materials including cobalt, which is used in battery development.

Founded in 2019, Britishvolt is best known for its development of EV batteries, which has become a major aspect of the UK’s plans for decarbonisation. Britishvolt has already received an additional £100m from the government, which is keen to retain car industry jobs within the country.

Kasra Pezeshki, Britishvolt chief investments officer, said: “Our interactions with the capital markets show that demand for low-carbon, responsibly manufactured batteries is rapidly growing.”

Plans in the UK to fully transition to electric vehicles have led to a surge in demand for batteries, with figures submitted to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy suggesting the UK is far behind the capacity needed for EV battery manufacturing.

The global supply of batteries is largely dominated outside of Europe, particularly in Asia, but the UK is currently attempting to catch up.

Sunderland-based battery manufacturer Envision is also a part of the major push from the UK to increase battery development for electric cars.