Recharge Industries buys Britishvolt for an undisclosed sum

Australian firm Recharge Industries has bought UK battery start-up Britishvolt which went into administration in January.

Britishvolt planned to build a £3.8 billion gigafactory in Blyth but it collapsed last month after running out of money, with the loss of more than 200 jobs. 

The electric vehicle (EV) battery factory was expected to create 3,000 direct highly-skilled jobs and another 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain, and had been touted as an example of ‘levelling up’.

Recharge Industries, which is owned by New York fund Scale Facilitation Partners, was named as the preferred bidder of Britishvolt's business and assets, earlier this month. 

The new owners will keep the Britishvolt brand name but intends to start by focusing on batteries for energy storage and hopes to have those products available by the end of 2025.

Jordan Roberts, analyst at Fastmarkets NewGen, said: “Although the switch to initially focus on stationary energy storage, may will be disappointing to those that have aspirations for British manufactured cars to utilise British made batteries, this is still a very positive development for the UK battery value chain.

“A combination of renewable energy production and energy storage systems is essential in the transition to a low carbon economy.

“The demand for stationary storage continues to exceed market expectations and we expect it to eventually overtake demand for batteries from EVs.”

Michael Carter, legal director and head of automotive IP at law firm Gowling WLG, added: "This is encouraging news for the UK automotive industry. The construction of UK gigafactories capable of providing a robust supply of battery technology is essential to the growth of EV development in this country, which presently relies heavily on technology developed in China, Korea and Japan.

"Although there are still significant hurdles that Recharge will need to overcome, the combination of Recharge and Britishvolt's IP allied with a well-located site, knowledgeable workforce and potential customers on their doorstep in the form of UK luxury and performance car makers, provide a solid foundation for success.

"Given the need for the UK to build multiple gigafactories to meet industry demand by 2030, one hopes this will be the case and that it will encourage further investment into this key part of the future UK automotive supply chain."

The administrators EY said the company had been sold for an undisclosed sum, with its remaining employees transferring to Recharge as part of the deal.

"The sale of the business will help to support the development of technology and infrastructure needed for the UK's energy transition," it said.