UK startup Volklec to make EV batteries with licensed Chinese technology
LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - British startup Volklec has reached a licensing agreement with China's Far East Battery (FEB) to use its technology to make batteries for energy storage and electric vehicles, it said on Wednesday.
FEB, a unit of Far East Smarter Energy Co (600869.SS), opens new tab, will also provide engineers and other support to help Volklec scale up production at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), a partly government-funded battery factory in Coventry.
The Chinese company will also provide Volklec with access to its supply chain to lower costs.
European battery makers have struggled with the challenges of developing a viable chemistry for EV batteries while also raising funds and scaling up in an industry dominated by China.
After prominent failures like Britishvolt and Sweden's Northvolt, which is undergoing restructuring, industry experts predict more European battery firms will need Chinese cash and expertise to scale up.
Volklec said in late 2025 it will start producing "energy cell" batteries for e-scooters, e-bikes and EV chargers as well as energy storage, with a "power cell" for EVs coming in the second half of 2026.
UK investment company Frontive Group has committed 20 million pounds ($25.3 million) for production of the energy cell.
Volklec executive director Phil Popham told Reuters the company will need to raise 80 million pounds for a new 1 gigawatt hour (GWh) production line at the UKBIC for the power cell.
Volklec is talking to a number of automakers about using the cells, he said, declining to disclose which companies.
Popham said FEB has supplied cells for about a million EVs so far.
"Volklec's approach is all about getting to market quickly using proven technology to give confidence to customers and investors," Popham said. "We know where we're going to buy it, where we'll produce it and what we'll produce."
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