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<p>The Government is in regular dialogue with car manufacturers in the UK on a range
of opportunities to support the transition to zero emission vehicles and to new supply
chains, including batteries.</p><p>The UK is a highly attractive location for battery
manufacturing. It is home to Europe’s first volume automotive battery production facility
at Sunderland, owned by Envision AESC. In April 2019, the Advanced Propulsion Centre
published a report showing the strength of the UK chemicals and materials supply chain
for batteries, representing a £4.8bn a year supply chain opportunity by 2030.</p><p>Through
our Industrial Strategy and landmark Automotive Sector Deal, we are placing the UK
at the forefront of new automotive technology development. The Sector Deal which was
developed in partnership with the industry, working through the Automotive Council,
includes a joint ambition to establish battery manufacturing a scale, a “gigafactory”,
in the UK. Central to this, government has committed £274m to the Faraday Battery
Challenge (FBC) to help businesses in the UK lead the world in the design, development
and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.</p><p>Under the FBC government
has invested £108m in the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) which will open
in 2020 and provide a state-of-the-art pilot facility to test new cell technology.
UKBIC will play a key role in laying the groundwork to secure a battery gigafactory.
It will do this by allowing collaborative R&D by UK cell manufacturers, battery
pack assemblers and car makers to take place, proving out cell chemistries, formats
and manufacturing processes at industrial rates.</p><p>This is an essential step to
allow UK companies to quickly develop their capabilities to manufacture batteries,
scale up and get them to market.</p>
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