Statement on Britishvolt entering administration

Julian Hetherington, Automotive Transformation Director:

“The announcement today from Britishvolt is a disappointing blow for the company, the UK automotive sector, and the individuals affected.  

It is no secret that gigafactories require substantial investment and our insight suggests there is a huge opportunity in the UK associated with the electrification of cars alone, specifically with battery manufacturing.  

Britishvolt have been operating in a challenging landscape. They have produced very credible ‘A’ Samples in volume and got them out to customers. They did that without grant funding, and have also leveraged the excellent UK university capability, and that vital piece of the UK’s ecosystem, UKBIC (UK Battery Industrialisation Centre). The UK environment can support these successes going forward. The technology developed is exciting, and we expect this to be of interest to the sector. 

Our forecasts show at least 90GWh of UK manufacturing demand by 2030, Nissan and Envision AESC has recently committed to creating 9GWh capacity, but clearly, we will need more. 

APC’s focus remains on supporting the transition towards designing and producing the most efficient and innovative electrified vehicles here in the UK. 

There is undoubtedly much still to do for the UK to meet its net zero ambition – but there is also still a lot to play out.”