The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) is part of the UK Government’s Faraday Battery Challenge.

The £130 million UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) is a pioneering concept in the race to develop battery technology for the transition to a greener future.  The unique facility provides the missing link between battery technology, which has proved promising at laboratory or prototype scale, and successful mass production. Based in Coventry, the publicly-funded battery product development facility welcomes manufacturers, entrepreneurs, researchers and educators, and can be accessed by any organisation with existing or new battery technology – if that technology will bring green jobs and prosperity to the UK.

UKBIC is a key part of the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC), a Government programme to fast track the development of cost-effective, high-performance, durable, safe, low-weight and recyclable batteries.

In addition to funding from the Faraday Battery Challenge through UK Research and Innovation and the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, UKBIC is also part-funded through the West Midlands Combined Authority.  The project has been delivered through a consortium of Coventry City Council, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and WMG, at the University of Warwick.  UKBIC was created in 2018 following a competition led by the Advanced Propulsion Centre with support from Innovate UK.

The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) is part of the UK Government’s Faraday Battery Challenge.

On the 29th November 2017, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the RT Hon Greg Clark MP, announced the consortium of Coventry City Council, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, and WMG, at the University of Warwick, had been awarded £80 million, through a competition led by the Advanced Propulsion Centre and supported by Innovate UK, to establish a new national facility for battery manufacturing development.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said, “Battery technology is one of the most game-changing forms of energy innovation and it is one of the cornerstones of our ambition, through the Industrial Strategy and the Faraday Battery Challenge, to ensure that the UK leads the world, and reaps the economic benefits, in the global transition to a low carbon economy.

“The new facility, based in Coventry and Warwickshire, will propel the UK forward in this thriving area, bringing experts from academia and industry together to deliver innovation and R&D that will further enhance the West Midlands’ international reputation as a cluster of automotive excellence.”