The North East鈥檚 position at the forefront of green transport has been cemented with two developments in the region.
Moves by Sunderland鈥檚 Hyperdrive Innovation to take up the whole of the Future Technology Centre Building near Turbine Business Park mean the region is now home to the 海角视频鈥檚 biggest independent battery manufacturing facility.
Meanwhile Newcastle-based smart cities consultancy Urban Foresight has secured 拢3m from the Government to pilot new technologies to charge electric vehicles as part of a 拢37m package to boost the usage of greener vehicles.
The opening of Hyve today will allow Hyperdrive to produce up to 30,000 battery packs each year, and comes a year after the firm struck a 拢40m deal to sell its batteries outside Europe for the first time.
Chris Pennison, CEO of Hyperdrive, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking over the whole of the Future Technology Centre, occupying all 21,000 sq ft, as we continue to grow globally. We鈥檝e already taken on new employees this year, growing by 10%, and intend to recruit more this financial year.
鈥淲e can see our growth trajectory because we鈥檝e done the groundwork. We are expanding in managed phases, and are ready to fulfil customers鈥 requirements to meet changing regulations such as the Clean Air Zone.
鈥淲e get the right product to the right markets and we carry out rigorous research to ensure we continue to do that. Everyone is at the start of the journey on electrification, and we aim to show customers the routes to solve their problems, and the options they have.鈥
The development of Hyve has won the backing of excavator giants JCB, which is using technology developed at Hyve to power its first electric excavator, and Business Minister Andrew Stephenson, who said the facility would help place 鈥渢he 海角视频 as a world leader in battery technology鈥.
Hyperdrive Innovation moved into Washington鈥檚 Future Technology Centre in 2014. Since then the company has invested 拢7m into its manufacturing capabilities.
Early support for the firm was received from the Advanced Propulsion Centre, which provided a 拢9.7m grant to the High Energy Density Battery Project (HEDB), allowing Hyperdrive to work with Nissan on its battery technology.
The opening of Hyve comes just a few days after Urban Foresight was named as one of 12 projects backed with Government funding to revolutionise electric transport.
The company, which is based on the Newcastle Helix site, will use the money to create 100 鈥減op-up鈥 chargers on streets in Dundee and Plymouth that will rise up from pavements to help people charge electric cars.
