7:46 am, February 27, 2023
Failed EV battery firm Britishvolt has been taken over by Australian outfit Recharge Industries, it has been confirmed.
Car Dealer reported in January that the troubled company had collapsed after failing to secure funding, leading to hundreds of employees being laid off.
Recharge was announced as the preferred bidder for the firm at the start of February and the start-up’s boss how now announced a deal has been reached.
In an interview with the BBC, Recharge’s chief executive David Collard said: ‘What we are bringing is validated technology.
‘The US defence industry has validated it and it is already supplied to the UK navy through a subcontractor.’
Founded in 2022, Recharge is an Australian company which is owned and run by New York-based investment fund Scale Facilitation.
Collard said the Britishvolt brand name would remain, but the business would initially focus on batteries for energy storage.
It then intends to produce batteries for high-performance sports cars at a state-of-the-art gigafactory in Blyth.
Collard told the BBC he would accept government funding, but desired broad political support for the project.
He added: ‘Anyone will take free money but at the end of the day what we want is bi-partisan support and we have that in Australia and the US.’
It is hoped the project will create up to 8,000 jobs on site and in the supply chain, with work on the site estimated to begin in six-to-12 months.
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