UK-based electric vehicle battery firm Britishvolt announced it had secured short-term funding, temporarily staving off administration. The company said its employees also agreed to a pay cut for November.
“While the weakening economic situation is negatively impacting much business investment at present, at Britishvolt we are continuing to pursue positive ongoing discussions with potential investors.” the firm said in a statement sent to CNBC.
“In addition, we have also received promising approaches from several more international investors in the past few days.”
“The result is we have now secured the necessary near-term investment that we believe enables us to bridge over the coming weeks to a more secure funding position for the future.”
“To further reduce our near-term costs, our dedicated employee team has also voluntarily agreed to a temporary salary reduction for the month of November.”
It has secured cash for the business to stay ongoing in short to medium term, sources with knowledge of the matter stated.
Gigafactory in Northumberland, England
Britishvolt is checking to build a gigafactory in Northumberland, northeast England. The company has received support from mining giant Glencore, among others.
These gigafactories produce EV batteries on a large scale. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is widely credited with coining the term.
300,000 EV battery packs capacity
Britishvolt, which attracted attention due to its hopeful plans, previously stated its plant would have to produce a capacity of more than 300,000 EV battery packs annually.
In January 2022, the company said the first phase of the gigafactory would start production in either the fourth quarter of 2023 or the beginning of 2024.
Notably, the UK is looking to increase the number of EVs on the road in the upcoming years.
EV-only mandate by 2035
Authorities want to stop the sale of new diesel and gasoline vehicles by 2030. They will require all new vehicles to have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035.
The European Union (EU), which the UK left on January 31, 2020, is pursuing similar goals.
In addition, Britishvolt has come up with memorandums of understanding to produce batteries for UK car firms like Aston Martin and Lotus.
