Williams Advanced Engineering, the Formula 1 racecar design firm and part of the Williams Group is set to make lithium-ion batteries for luxury carmaker Aston Martin.
The surprise announcement that Williams was even in the EV battery business comes as the UK government pumps £62 million ($77 million) in the so-called The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) UK.
A source from Williams told BBB this facility would potentially become key to UK advanced battery production in general and for a wide range of applications.
Just like all the batteries supplies for the FIA Formula E racing series, William has leaned towards lithium-ion technology. “We are hoping to be at the forefront of this technology and won’t look exclusively at one or the other,” said the source.
Williams said in an interview that its project would begin in 2018 but declined to state how much funding it had received or the total value of the investment.
Another project funded by APC is led by BMW Group, who will collaborate with Delta Motorsport, an engineering consultancy in England and the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at University of Warwick. This will be used to design, develop and produce power dense batteries in the UK.
WMG has received a grant of £3.8 million ($4.7 million) for its part in the project. Professor Dave Greenwood from WMG said: “This research collaboration will utilise WMG’s electrochemical materials and engineering expertise, and use WMG’s world class battery testing and validation facilities, for understanding optimal power density in application of lithium-ion battery cells, modules and packs.
“It will push forward the boundaries of existing knowledge of lithium-ion cells and battery systems to support higher power capabilities than is currently normal within commercial systems, and to apply this to the developed system.”
APC said it would have facilitated £1 billion ($1.2 billion) of investment in UK automotive projects, with the aim of saving 50 million tonnes CO2 and safeguarding 30,000 jobs by 2023.