BritishVolt a busted flush

[dan_b]

Why is this not surprising?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... SApp_Other

[Stinsy]

Just another investment scam…

[Oldgreybeard]

Just read this on the BBC News site. Why on earth can't we get stuff like this sorted, I wonder?

Right now we could really do with a UK battery production facility, so we are not as beholden to other countries that may well become hostile towards the UK at some point. Comes back to the general point that we need energy security that is independent of overseas interests that may one day choose to hold us to ransom.

Not sure if this was an investment scam or not, TBH. There's a valid argument to support producing critical components for transport and general energy storage within the UK.

[dan_b]

I think investment scam is a bit disingenuous.
But what killed it is a combination of Brexit and the wider collapse of car manufacturing in the UK - and those that are still making cars here not embracing EVs at all (and yes I know the Leaf is made in Sunderland but it's not a market leader anymore by any stretch of the imagination).

[AE-NMidlands]

but when you consider the (currently mostly-battery) grid storage growth now and what is needed, the almost no-brainer of rolling out dispersed household batteries to allow peak-shaving, the development of EVs (especially for public transport in low emission zones,) if government allows this to fail you wonder what it is for?
The bit saying

The government eventually promised the company £100m in financial support, while the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, was chancellor. However, Britishvolt has not yet received the money, which was earmarked for tooling within the factory, which has not been bought.

is disappointing. They aren't really behind renewables are they?

Of course it could be kite-flying to get publicity in support of govt. funding... (faint hope!)

[Mart]

I appreciate that Brexit, and the economic border now with the EU is a massive problem, but the UK Gov needs to get more involved in the battery production industry.

Look at the VW Group, they alone are planning 240GWh of battery factories by 2030 just in Europe. If the UK misses out on this crucial industry it will be shameful.

Might be a bad analogy, I can't quite get my head around the similarities or not, but battery production may be the new oil/gas rush, the scale, and scale of growth, is staggering as we enter exponential growth territory.

[Mr Gus]

Agree with all said above except for it being a scam, ..unless you count boris backing a metaphysical, cash promised publicly but never delivered part of a politician scamming the population with words & plans he thinks will keep his agenda flying higher longer for free..

Energy security, jobs, home produced kit with all the offshoots that brings.

[Oldgreybeard]

Perhaps the emphasis needs to be shifted a bit towards this being a factory for batteries in general, rather than being targeted (and marketed) as a factory for EV batteries. I suspect the EV battery market is going to remain stitched up by the manufacturers, none of which are UK companies, so they won't have any interest in using UK manufactured batteries unless they are cheaper (and they probably won't be).

Shifting the focus to batteries for energy storage, rather than just EVs, seems to make a lot more strategic sense. Hard to make any argument against our need to have some independence from other nations when it comes to energy security I'd have thought.

[Mart]

Hi OGB. That makes a lot of sense, especially as the rising demand for EV batteries is causing price spikes.

For stationary storage energy density (Wh/kg and Wh/l) is mostly irrelevant, so many other technologies and materials can be used, effectively spreading the load across more materials and supply lines. Maybe flow batts?

Mind you, if the Chinese aren't lying, and they really can reach 70% efficiency for CAES, then the whole issue may be moot, as CAES has vast potential when it comes to scaleability, running into TWh's.

Exciting times.

[Mr Gus]

I though nk offshoots covers that aspect, but yes, precisely, solid tech that can be scaled in either direction makes for many buyers knocking on the door, & with you that employment & innovation.