What next for Britishvolt?
In an Interview with Third Bridge Forum, the specialist said the recent changes to the UK government will not impact its support for EV battery manufacturing. We heard that Britishvolt has not yet received GBP 100m in funding from the government as promised in January. They said this is due to production equipment used for making batteries not yet installed in its gigafactory, adding that the manufacturer is “nowhere near ready” to begin this stage of its operations.
The specialist believes that the high end of EV industry forecasts are too ambitious, citing the Nissan Leaf model not selling enough to justify a 30GW battery factory with Envision. They told us that Britishvolt does not yet have a “proven product” or an OEM supply contract, which makes it difficult to determine the size of factory needed.
We heard that a new battery supplier to an automaker like Britishvolt could take up to four years before a new component is adopted by an OEM. The specialist added that the manufacturer has only recently begun such evaluation tests.
In the Interview, the specialist told us that China currently has an advantage in securing raw materials for batteries from Africa and LATAM. They said that it is difficult to tell if one battery cell supplier has a significant advantage over other suppliers. However, as a caveat to this, they claimed it would be difficult to believe that Britishvolt has an advantage compared to CATL or LG.
Overall the specialist was downbeat on Britishvolt and claimed its chances of success is “low”. They said it is far from being “production ready” and that once ready, it could only fulfil “lower volume end” contracts. In the specialist’s opinion, no battery cell factory is likely to succeed without an OEM, and at this present time, Britishvolt does not have one.
Click here to access all the human insights in the Third Bridge Forum Interview, “Britishvolt – strategic plan and British EV battery industry outlook”.
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The information used in compiling this document has been obtained by Third Bridge from experts participating in Forum Interviews. Third Bridge does not warrant the accuracy of the information and has not independently verified it. It should not be regarded as a trade recommendation or form the basis of any investment decision.
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