Electric Vehicles:Batteries and recycling

[myglaren]

[myglaren]

Looks like British Volt is going under.

Britishvolt is expected to fall into administration on Tuesday morning, the BBC understands, after hopes of a last-minute bid for the company were dashed.

A notice is expected to be filed in insolvency courts, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firm, which plans a factory to make electric car batteries, is holding an all-staff meeting at 11:30 on Tuesday.

It is understood the company wants to tell staff before making a public announcement.

Beeb.

[Gibbo2286]

The vultures are circling I'm sure, ready to pick up the bits.

[NewcastleFalcon]

The latest in the BritishVolt and its aftermath saga picked up by Steve. In simple summary

1. Select a start-up firm which has never made a battery or constructed a battery factory, and which hasn't any track record or existing customers in the Auto industry, to be the preferred developer for the first "flagship" battery gigafactory in the UK.

2. Wait a short while before it goes bust. Sell at a knockdown price to another consortium who have never made a battery or built a battery factory and have no existing customers in the Auto industry.

3. Wait a short time while they try to sell on their interest without doing anything to progress the construction of the factory.

Entirely predictable.

Recharge Industries: Britishvolt buyer failed to pay UK staff for months

An Australian firm which bought the collapsed battery maker Britishvolt has failed to pay its UK staff for the last four months, the BBC has learned. Recharge Industries took control of Britishvolt after it went into administration in January. The takeover has not gone smoothly, with some £2.5m of the purchase price still unpaid months after it was due. However, sources within Recharge Industries insist a deal with a new investor is imminent.

BBC.

My own view as stated previously on the thread

The battery Factory at Sunderland will happen before the battery factory at Blyth, and for the battery factory at Blyth to progress the struggling start-up Britishvolt (edit...and now their current successor Recharge Industries) may well have to hand the baton on to a global battery maker that can actually build a battery factory and make it happen

Battery production is not now a business for startups; it is an industry with huge players through which all the intellectual property, and innovation and development into industrial scale production flows. The top 10 electric vehicle battery producers are all from the far-east, and have supply contracts with global carmakers. The only sizeable battery maker in the UK is Chinese firm Envision AESC that supplies Nissan and that's the advantage which will see the Sunderland Gigafactory turn into a reality, while the Blyth Development currently limps along.

UK: Envision AESC lays foundation for Sunderland gigafactory

[NewcastleFalcon]

Can't beat writing a strategy. Meanwhile China are annihilating the competition and are light years ahead. Those backbones of the UK's auto industry Stellantis and Nissan, Stellantis are partnering with CATL, and Nissan's Chinese Partners AESC are the only ones constructing a battery factory right now and the BritishVolt experience was a disaster from the start and still is. Few more details here, not looking good https://www.electrive.com/2023/11/21/br ... -by-staff/

I think I'll wait until the film comes out, but its here for the record...
UK government announces battery strategy
https://www.electrive.com/2023/11/28/uk ... -strategy/

Neil

[myglaren]

[myglaren]

Adding caffeine can enhance the efficiency of fuel cells, reducing the need for platinum in electrodes and significantly reducing the cost of making them, according to researchers in Japan.

Fuel cells are attracting interest as an alternative energy storage technology in a variety of applications, from electric vehicles to powering datacenters, yet they can be costly as they use expensive material.

Researchers at the Graduate School of Engineering at Chiba University, Japan, claim to have discovered that adding caffeine can boost their efficiency, reducing the amount of platinum required and thus making them less expensive.

The Register

[NewcastleFalcon]

Not the entire story but as Steve has dug out today viewtopic.php?p=797054#p797054 , the former BritishVolt Factory site at Blyth is soon to become the possession of another set of "Investors" this time with plans to create Europe's Biggest Data Centre. Believe it when it happens....

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/f ... b397&ei=18

One of the world’s largest investment companies is set to take over the former Britishvolt site in Northumberland to create a series of data centres that will create hundreds of jobs.

American firm Blackstone and its data centre subsidiary QTS have reached agreement with Northumberland County Council and the owners of the land at Cambois, near Blyth, that should bring to an end a series of false dawns for the key regional employment site. If successful, the scheme could mark a £10bn investment into the North East.

The story as previously told on this thread.

The latest in the BritishVolt and its aftermath saga picked up by Steve. In simple summary

1. Select a start-up firm which has never made a battery or constructed a battery factory, and which hasn't any track record or existing customers in the Auto industry, to be the preferred developer for the first "flagship" battery gigafactory in the UK.

2. Wait a short while before it goes bust. Sell at a knockdown price to another consortium who have never made a battery or built a battery factory and have no existing customers in the Auto industry.

3. Wait a short time while they try to sell on their interest without doing anything to progress the construction of the factory.

Entirely predictable.

My own view as stated previously on the thread

The battery Factory at Sunderland will happen before the battery factory at Blyth, and for the battery factory at Blyth to progress the struggling start-up Britishvolt (edit...and now their current successor Recharge Industries) may well have to hand the baton on to a global battery maker that can actually build a battery factory and make it happen

Battery production is not now a business for startups; it is an industry with huge players through which all the intellectual property, and innovation and development into industrial scale production flows. The top 10 electric vehicle battery producers are all from the far-east, and have supply contracts with global carmakers. The only sizeable battery maker in the UK is Chinese firm Envision AESC that supplies Nissan and that's the advantage which will see the Sunderland Gigafactory turn into a reality, while the Blyth Development currently limps along.

UK: Envision AESC lays foundation for Sunderland gigafactory

Neil

[myglaren]

Very annoying bloke but could be worth watching.