UK Government Must Deliver On Environmental Promises And Back Britishvolt

Sustainability UK Government Must Deliver On Environmental Promises And Back Britishvolt James Morris Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about the rapidly growing world of electric vehicles Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Oct 31, 2022, 04:47pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Love or hate the Boris Johnson government, it had one positive: it was concerned about fixing the problems with the environment, or at least paid lip service to that goal.

That wasn’t the case with the short-lived Liz Truss regime, nor does it appear to be so with Rishi Sunak’s newly formed successor. Not only has Sunak (at least at the time of writing) spurning the COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference, his government also seems to be willing to let the UK fall behind in taking a strong foothold in the electric vehicle revolution. UK battery startup Britishvolt appears to be in financial trouble.

Britishvolt The Sunak government has most recently rejected providing extra funding to battery startup Britishvolt . This is putting the £3. 8 billion ($4.

4 billion) project in jeopardy. Britishvolt was aiming to have a total production capacity of 38GWh per year by 2030 , which would be enough to make the battery packs for 300,000 electric vehicles per year. That would only satisfy a fraction of the 1.

6-2. 6 million cars sold in the UK every year, but it would certainly help make a local industry viable. Britishvolt had already signed memoranda of understanding with both Aston Martin and Lotus to supply batteries to both companies.

There have been other signs that the UK is falling behind in the emerging EV business. The Britishvolt news has come at the same time as electric Taxi firm LEVC has announced job cuts , and poster child electric commercial vehicle company Arrival has shifted production to the US . In a further blow to British employment in the electrified future, BMW also announced earlier in October that it would be axing UK production of the Mini Electric and moving it to China .

In contrast to the much-vaunted sunny uplands of Brexit, the UK seems to be heading into a ditch of isolation from a growing electric future. Sunak’s nonchalance towards sustainable technology is perhaps not surprising amid reports that he took cash from fossil fuel companies to fund his campaign to be British prime minister . But if the current British government really wants to focus on growth, level up the North, and pull the country out of the economic downturn it currently finds itself in, it must change its tune.

Renewable energy is the best route towards independence from imported fossil fuels (and the influence of Russia). The development of recycled materials will be a huge growth industry – which European car companies like Polestar and BMW are already planning to exploit. If you look at the latest European and UK sales figures of EVs , this vehicle type will soon dominate the market, making it an ideal focus for manufacturing growth.

Britishvolt has been planning a £3. 8 billion ($4. 4 billion) gigafactory capable of supplying 300,000 .

. . [+] EV battery packs a year.

Britishvolt MORE FOR YOU The Inside Story Of Papa John’s Toxic Culture ‘Chucky’ Set To Slay At Halloween Horror Nights In 2023 London Heathrow Pilots New Online-Only Retail Model With Aspinal Of London, Calvin Klein And Tommy Hilfiger Any country that wants to be economically successful in the next few decades needs to get behind sustainability, renewable energy, and electrification. The reason is not just because of climate change, but because it makes solid business sense. The fossil fuel industry is on a road to decline, and while there will be huge business there for a few more years, it has already hit its peak.

As EV sales continue to grow, less fossil fuel will be needed, and the former black gold of oil will rapidly lose its tarnish. This is why the UK government really needs to think long and hard about allowing Britishvolt to fail in the way it currently appears to be doing. The UK needs its own battery production capabilities, and on an industrial scale.

Without it, we will be allowing other countries to take control of a rapidly emerging market while we are forced to consume what they produce. It’s worth bearing in mind that the world’s largest supplier of batteries is China. Do we really want to be vulnerable to imports from a country that is increasingly showing it doesn’t have our best interests at heart, when we could have our own local battery industry instead? UPDATE – Britishvolt has now obtained the funding it needs to continue , although the source of the funding hasn’t been revealed, and there are no signs yet it was from UK government investment.

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