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WMG key partner in £5.4 million project to develop UK battery supply chain for high performance, low carbon vehicles

WMG BatteryWMG, University of Warwick, which was recognised as the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK spoke for Electrical Energy storage in 2015, and it has been announced that WMG is to be a key partner in £5.4 million project to develop the next generation of battery packs for high performance, low carbon vehicles.

The UK Automotive Battery Supply Chain project aims to exploit the world leading UK innovations in the area of battery technology. Currently most of the technology within the battery systems used by the UK automotive industry is sourced from overseas suppliers, so this project aims to capitalise on the UKs strong battery technology research base and bring production back to the UK to serve demand from a changing automotive industry as they drive to deliver innovative ways to reduce carbon emissions and improve performance.

The collaborative project is funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), which was set up at the end of 2013 as a 10-year £1 billion partnership between industry and government to build UK industrial capability through the research, development and industrialisation of low carbon propulsion technologies.

The project, led by AGM Batteries (a battery cell manufacturer), will bring together UK innovations and knowledge from five partners; WMG, University of Warwick with its specialist battery knowledge and bespoke battery research facilities, Dukosi (a leader in smart battery management technology), Johnson Matthey Battery Systems (a battery pack manufacturer) and Cosworth (a world leading high performance powertrain developer).

Professor David Greenwood, Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems at WMG at the University of Warwick, and Head of the APC Electrical Energy Storage Spoke said:

“WMG has invested heavily in battery system research and development over the last decade, and was recognised as the APC UK spoke for Electrical Energy storage in 2015. We are pleased to be supporting AGM, Dukosi, JMBS and Cosworth in taking this novel and promising technology towards production. The UK has a strong position in battery systems innovation, and we are delighted to be playing a formative role in its future”

APC Director for Technology and Projects, Jon Beasley said:

“The announcement of the fourth round competition winners demonstrates the government’s on-going commitment to supporting the UK’s low carbon advanced propulsion system innovation ecosystem. Co-investment in technological developments to be delivered by industry-led consortia, range from high risk incremental growth programmes to innovative cutting edge R&D, showing the UK is committed to establishing itself as a global centre for the promotion and development of low carbon propulsion systems.”

Ian Whiting, Business Development Director of consortium lead AGM Batteries Ltd said:

“The UK has a strong reputation for automotive development and manufacturing and is also very strong on battery technology research. This project pulls much of that together, creating a team of respected industry partners, each bringing a specialism to the table. AGM scales new cell types up to real-world manufacturing and we have developed a good relationship with WMG who provide valuable expertise in the early stages of electro-chemistry and design for manufacture. This enables much faster realisation of production standard cells. Along with Dukosi’s new ‘on-cell’ electronics we can provide a more integrated product and all of this helps our battery pack partners to bring new systems, tailored to the automotive partner’s application, to market more quickly. What we have is the basis of a complete UK supply chain for automotive batteries from ‘powder to power’. The project aims to prove leading edge, new technologies in a high performance system that can subsequently be manufactured cost effectively in the UK. This funding, in addition to the significant funding being invested by AGM and our partners will allow us to prove that we have the skills and ambition in the UK to produce world leading, innovative battery products.

For further information please contact:
Lisa Barwick, Head of Marketing and Communications,
WMG, University of Warwick
Tel: 024 76 524721 or 07824 540845
Email: L.Barwick@warwick.ac.uk
or
Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy
University of Warwick
Tel UK 024 76523708 office 07767 655860 mobile
Tel Overseas: +44 (0)24 76523708 office
+44 (0)7767 655860 mobile/cell
Email p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR132 24th March 2016

PJD 24/03/2016

Contact: Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy

024 76523708 office

07767 655860 mobile

Email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk