The UK chemical supply chain for battery manufacture could “capture a £4.8 billion (US$6.2bn) per annum market share” by 2030, meeting the needs of UK-built vehicles alone, according to a new report.
The report said its forecast was based on the “strong foundation of UK-based companies already embedded within many global battery supply chains”.
Currently three fifths of a vehicle battery pack’s value is the chemicals and materials, according to the report by E4tech, which was commissioned by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), Innovate UK and supported by the Knowledge Transfer Network and WMG— an academic department of the University of Warwick.
APC’s CEO Ian Constance said: “With transport shifting towards electrification batteries are set to play a major part in our future propulsion mix.”
The report highlights opportunities for the automotive and chemical sectors to collaborate “to make the UK the go-to-place in Europe for battery cell manufacturing”, Constance said.
Dave Greenwood, advanced propulsion systems professor at WMG, said automotive batteries would halve in cost, double in energy density and “see tenfold increases in manufacturing volumes before the end of the next decade”. “High value opportunities exist in cathode powders, anode powders, electrolytes, collector foils and separators, and the supply chain to provide them is in its infancy.”
