Project aims to accelerate UK’s transition to sustainable electric vehicles (EVs) by focusing on battery production decarbonisation
PLYMOUTH, England, Sept. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group focused on supporting the transition to net zero, has today announced a groundbreaking project to produce and validate EV battery cells using materials recovered from end-of-life EV batteries.
In a first for the UK, the project will demonstrate battery cells produced with recovered cathode active materials (CAM) which will be validated for use in vehicles with a leading automotive OEM.
The project has been made possible through the support of the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, under the latest round of its Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator (ARMD) competition.
Working alongside JLR, a global luxury car manufacturer, Altilium will leverage its advanced EcoCathode™ process to deliver a significant carbon reduction in EVs. By recovering critical materials including lithium, cobalt and nickel, Altilium’s process reduces the need for newly mined materials, resulting in a 60% reduction in carbon emissions.
JLR will conduct comprehensive validation studies on the pouch cells at its cutting-edge battery testing facilities.
Production of the battery cells is planned to take place at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), the UK’s national battery manufacturing scale-up facility, using recovered battery materials produced by Altilium at its new mini-commercial ACT2 facility, as well as its ACT1 pilot, both in Devon.
Dr Christian Marston, Altilium COO, commented: “We are proud to lead this pioneering project with JLR that brings us one step closer to a circular economy for battery materials in the UK. By demonstrating that EV battery cells made from recovered materials can meet the rigorous standards of the automotive industry, we’re not only reducing the environmental impact of battery production but also supporting the UK’s efforts to build a more sustainable and resilient EV supply chain. This project is a vital milestone in our mission to decarbonize the battery value chain and support automotive OEMs in achieving their regulatory and sustainability goals.”
The project builds on Altilium’s previously announced partnership with UKBIC, supported by Innovate UK’s Faraday Battery Challenge, to begin rapid prototyping of EV battery cells using recycled CAM. Both projects will be crucial in de-risking the scale-up of Altilium’s battery recycling operations and helping to strengthen the UK’s position in the global EV supply chain.
Sean Gilgunn, Managing Director of UKBIC, commented: “We’re delighted to be part of this innovative project which will help the industry move towards an even cleaner future. Our role in the battery ecosystem is to help companies prove their new materials and technologies can be industrialised, and working with Altilium will help them prove their recycled CAM can be an effective option in future EV batteries.”
According to new research by the Faraday Institution, demand for UK EV battery manufacturing capacity will reach nearly 110 GWh per annum in 2030. In order to meet this demand, the UK will need to secure substantial amounts of raw materials, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, needed to manufacture EV batteries. The development of a sustainable domestic supply chain for these materials will therefore be critical for the electrification of transport in the UK.
Altilium’s planned Teesside hub will be the UK’s largest integrated battery recycling facility, capable of processing 150,000 EV batteries annually and supplying 30,000tpa of CAM back into the UK’s growing gigafactory complex.
About Altilium
Altilium is a UK-based clean tech group that will reshape the UK and European automotive supply chain by offering high volume, low carbon domestic sources of cathode and anode materials from recycling waste streams already in circulation, such as end-of-life batteries.
The company’s proprietary EcoCathode™ process converts end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into domestic, sustainable, battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM) for direct reuse in new batteries.
Altilium’s first mini-commercial plant is currently under construction in Plymouth while its planned Teesside plant will be one of the largest EV battery recycling facilities in Europe. The plant will have the capacity to process scrap from over 150,000 EVs per year, producing 30,000 MT of CAM, enough to meet around 20% of the UK’s expected needs by 2030.
Altilium’s growth has been supported by a number of UK government innovation awards, including grants from the Faraday Institutions Battery Challenge and the Automotive Transformation Fund. The company recently completed its Series A funding round with a multi-million pound investment from SQM Lithium Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the lithium business of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), one of the world’s leading producers of battery-grade lithium.
For more information go to www.altilium.tech
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