5 Jul 2019

A significant opportunity to boost the economy and extend the automotive battery supply chain is being presented to the UK with the arrival of new advanced technology.

As Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced today that it plans to invest close to £1bn to build electric cars in the UK, the JLR CEO, Professor Dr Ralf Speth, highlights the importance of building a local competitive supply chain.

SCI supports the call by JLR for a giga-scale battery production plant in the UK to put the country at the leading edge of electric mobility. As transport shifts towards electrification, UK giga-scale battery production is essential for the next generation of battery technology in order to create smaller, denser, cheaper batteries, and currently the UK is missing out as other countries are investing in developing local supply chains.

The UK has important capabilities in various parts of the supply chain and it has access to critical raw materials, in particular in lithium, which has been historically mined in Cornwall, but is also found in high concentrations in aquafers in the north.

‘It’s great to see new technologies coming to the UK’, said Paul Booth, President of SCI. ‘This announcement creates further opportunities for further innovations in the materials space to support battery development and to solve the challenge of developing a fully recyclable battery’.    

SCI is working with the community to help to create the innovations necessary to realise the opportunity that electrification of mobility presents. Sharon Todd, SCI CEO added ‘With a long track record of innovation, the UK has the core capabilities required to make a local supply chain a reality, boosting the economy and moving towards the government’s target of being carbon neutral by 2050’.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

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