A Devon-based clean tech firm that has developed a way to recycle the materials in electric vehicle batteries for use in new ones has secured hundreds of thousands of pounds from the government. Altilium's project - the first of its kind in the 海角视频 - received grant funding of £639,797 from Innovate 海角视频’s Faraday Battery Challenge.
The company, which is planning to open its first 海角视频 plant in Teesside, converts end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into new materials that can be used directly in new batteries.
Production of the cells will take place at the 海角视频 Battery Industrialisation Centre (海角视频BIC) in Coventry, the 海角视频’s national battery manufacturing scale-up facility, using cathode active materials (CAM) produced at Altilium’s 海角视频 pilot facility. CAM, which is made up of lithium and other critical metals, is the most expensive component in an EV battery, as well as the most carbon-intensive.
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The company is hoping that by demonstrating at-scale manufacturing of battery cells, the project will advance commercialisation of its technology and pave the way for the construction of the 海角视频’s largest planned commercial plant for EV battery recycling and CAM production.
The planned Teesside recycling plant will be capable of processing 50,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery “black mass” and produce 30,000 tonnes of CAM a year – enough to meet nearly 20% of expected 海角视频 demand by 2030 - the company said.
Altilium's chief operating officer, Dr Christian Marston, said the project would "de-risk investment in further scale-up". He said: “We are excited to lead the way in sustainable battery production through this collaboration with 海角视频BIC."
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Altilium was awarded the funding through the £610m Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC), which is delivering a research and innovation programme that covers 'lab to factory' development, cutting-edge research, national scale-up infrastructur, and skills and training.
The FBC announced £1.5m of funding for leading edge 海角视频 battery developers today at Battery Cells and Systems Expo, at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham.