EV battery firm Britishvolt staves off immediate collapse with short-term funding
Charging points for electric cars in London, England.
Jon Challicom | Moment | Getty Images
LONDON – British electric vehicle battery company Britishvolt said on Wednesday it had secured short-term funding, a move that will enable it to fend off administration for the time being. The company said the employees had also agreed to a pay cut for November.
In a statement published by Sky News, the firm said: “Although the weakened economic situation is adversely affecting many business investments at present, at Britishvolt we continue to pursue positive ongoing discussions with potential investors.”[ads1];
“In addition, we have also received promising approaches from several international investors in recent days.”
“The result is that we have now secured the necessary short-term investment which we believe will enable us to bridge the coming weeks to a more secure funding position for the future.”
“To further reduce our costs in the short term, our dedicated staff team has also voluntarily accepted a temporary pay cut for the month of November.”
Britishvolt wants to build a gigafactory in the county of Northumberland, in the north-east of England. The company has received support from the mining giant Glencoreamong others.
So-called giga factories are facilities that produce batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been widely credited with coining the term.
Britishvolt, which attracted attention for its bullish plans, had previously said its facility would have the capacity to produce more than 300,000 EV battery packs each year.
In January this year, it said the first phase of the gigafactory would start production in the fourth quarter of 2023 or the start of 2024.
The UK wants to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road in the coming years.
The authorities want to stop the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2030. They will require, from 2035, that all new cars and vans must have zero tailpipe emissions.
The European Union, which Britain left on 31 January 2020, pursues similar goals.
