Charged EVs | UKBIC’s Flexible Pilot Line gives battery startups a scale-up path from lab to gigafactory
The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre has opened a new Flexible Pilot Line in Coventry aimed at helping UK battery startups and SMEs move promising technologies out of the lab and prove they can scale at lower cost and lower risk.
According to the Department for Business and Trade, the new line is the only facility of its kind in Europe and is intended to fill a gap between laboratory development and full commercial production. UKBIC says the facility gives smaller companies a way to validate new chemistries and materials at a meaningful scale before moving to its Industrial Scale Line for commercialization.
The first two companies set to use the line are Echion and Ilika, both working on next-generation battery technologies. Ilika will use the facility in collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover and Oxford University. The government says the line will support battery development not only for EVs, but also for defense and maritime applications.
The facility was backed by £38 million in government funding through the Faraday Battery Challenge. “The FPL further strengthens our offering to industry, giving start-ups and SMEs a great opportunity to bring their innovative chemistries and materials to us to prove at scale before moving onto our ISL for full commercialisation,” said UKBIC Managing Director Sean Gilgunn.
Source: UK Department for Business and Trade
