TSB awards £1million for development of UK battery chemistry
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The Technology Strategy Board has awarded almost £1million to a UK consortium for the development of new battery chemistry. The new technology could deliver high energy densities and produce a prototype for the plug in electric vehicles (PHEV) application.
The consortium includes silicon based anode specialist Nexeon, advanced battery manufacturer, Axeon, the University of St Andrews and automotive engineering specialist, Ricardo. The partners will match the TSB funding in the £2million project.
Over the next two years, applied research conducted at St Andrews on potential new cathode materials will be combined with chemical engineering by Nexeon to scale up material synthesis and optimise electrode fabrication. It is hoped that this will result in prototype Li-ion cells based on its proprietary silicon anode technology. The cells will be used by Axeon to construct a useable PHEV type battery with cells engineered into a housing with electrical interconnects and harnessing. Ricardo will perform testing of the battery module integrated into a demo vehicle.
John Laughlin, the TSB's programme manager for low carbon vehicles, said: "Our support for this project is part of our ongoing major investment programme aimed at putting the UK at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology. The research we are funding will strengthen the UK's automotive industry, while speeding up the reduction of carbon emissions and helping to meet UK and EU climate change targets. We are delighted to support this exciting project, which brings together some of the UK's world class expertise in vehicle battery development, and look forward to following its progress."
