Charged EVs | Integrals Power secures UK government funding to scale LFP and LMFP cathode production to 1,000 tonnes/year

Integrals Power has secured funding under the UK government’s DRIVE35 Scale-up Feasibility Studies competition to assess scaling its LFP and LMFP cathode active material production—a program the company calls Project CATMAN.

The study will map the manufacturing pathway from Integrals Power’s existing 20 tonne/year UK pilot line to a 100 tonne/year demonstration facility, with full engineering readiness for a 1,000 tonne/year commercial line. The pilot already produces both LFP and LMFP cathodes. DRIVE35 is delivered by the Department for Business and Trade in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK, and is part of the UK government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which makes £4 billion available to 2035 for automotive R&D and scale-up.

Integrals Power’s LMFP uses 80% manganese content to deliver 20% higher energy density than conventional LFP while retaining LFP’s safety profile, cycle life and cost structure. Unlike NMC chemistries, it contains no cobalt or nickel. Independent cycle life testing by QinetiQ has exceeded 1,500 charge-discharge cycles at 1C rate with nearly 80% capacity retention. Cold temperature testing by Cranfield University showed 85% retained capacity at -25 °C and 68% at -30 °C, results the company says significantly outperform current LFP and LMFP benchmarks.

Almost all current LFP and LMFP cathode production is based in China, which introduced export restrictions on these materials and manufacturing processes last year. From 2027, EU Battery Passports come into effect and UK-EU rules of origin requirements tighten for EV batteries, requiring 65% of cell value and 70% of battery pack value to originate in the UK or EU to avoid 10% tariffs. A domestic cathode supply chain is shifting from competitive advantage to regulatory necessity.

“Our LMFP material has already proven itself in independent testing by QinetiQ—now we need to prove the manufacturing process at scale, and that is exactly what this program will deliver,” said Founder and CEO Behnam Hormozi. “The UK has a genuine opportunity to establish manufacturing for these strategically important cell chemistries outside of China, and this funding is a critical step in enabling that to happen.”

Source: Integrals Power