UK Lithium Battery Communication Site Energy

As demand for electrical energy storage scales, production networks for lithium-ion battery manufacturing are being re-worked organisationally and geographically. The UK - like the US and EU - is seeking to onshore lithium-ion battery production and build a national battery supply chain.

The UK too is seeking to onshore global production networks for lithium-ion batteries (LiB) and build a domestic battery supply chain. The UK case is instructive as the geopolitical dynamics of onshoring centre on maintaining the UK's role as an automobile manufacturing platform in the post-Brexit period rather than a general 'global race'.

These gaps reflect limits in the scope and scale of the UK government's efforts to act as an 'entrepreneurial state' with regard to lithium-ion batteries, particularly in the context of growing competition from Europe and the US in the wake of the US Inflation Reduction Act.

Although solid state batteries do not use lithium-ion technology, Ilika is part of a broader cell and battery development ecosystem in the UK that harnesses government support (via APC, UKBIC and FBC) and private funding to develop and scale cell and battery technology.

For electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries were presented as the best option, whereas sodium-batteries were frequently discussed as preferable to lithium in non-transport applications. As one respondent stated, 'Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a favourable option for stationary energy storage.'

Spotlights nexus of auto-manufacturing and lithium-ion batteries, post-Brexit. Battery supply chain shaped by a state project of green industrial transformation. State action towards onshoring converges battery science & manufacturing.