Lotus' chosen battery partner Britishvolt near collapse

[donskibeat]

UK battery firm Britishvolt near collapse as it seeks funding

Britishvolt could run out of money after the government refused to advance £30m in funding.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Leonard]

Always good to support British

Rimstock 2.0

 

[Porter]

But, but... Nigel Farage and Dominic Cummings told us that after Brexit, the world would come begging to buy British goods at a premium! Could they have possibly been wrong? Surely not.

 

[VL3X]

I thought Lotus partnered with NIO for their EV battery tech?

 

[donskibeat]

I thought Lotus partnered with NIO for their EV battery tech?

britishvolt lotus - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[VL3X]

britishvolt lotus - Google Search

www.google.com

So.. what happened to this?

 

[Porter]

So.. what happened to this?

Maybe it's different suppliers for the Evija vs future China-built EVs?

 

[donskibeat]

Perhaps different suppliers for the cars built in China compared to the cars planned to be built at Hethel when Emira production done, not sure, just posting the news

 

[Tonyshepp]

Stand down, disaster averted. Funding found.

 

[donskibeat]

UK battery firm Britishvolt averts collapse as funding secured

There were fears Britishvolt could run out of money after the government refused to advance funding.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[eriegz]

Wow, what a roller coaster this thread has been!

 

[RENDERMAN]

Wow, what a roller coaster this thread has been!

Did you take your Dramamine?

 

[digilotus]

Stand down, disaster averted. Funding found.

Until they run out of money again in a few months!

 

[KusaKusa]

So.. what happened to this?

That was sources saying that when Lotus Technology was on the market for private investors, Nio was one of the investors. What the actual connection between the two companies will be is unknown, if there is any.

Oh and for Britishvolt, with how far out their manufacturing date has been pushed out, the batteries may not be ready in time for Type 135. I think the release vs manufacturing timing is basically dead even now with no slack, and that doesn't include needs for test/validation prototypes and production ramp up.

 

[digilotus]

I would assume the Type 135 batteries will come from the same place as those for the Eletre.

 

[Porter]

I would assume the Type 135 batteries will come from the same place as those for the Eletre.

It would most likely be dictated by location of manufacture. Is the 135 being built in China? Or UK? I thought the sports cars were going to continue to be manufactured at Hethel.

 

[KusaKusa]

There's a strong chance Type 135's batteries will be different from Lotus Evolution platform (i.e. "lifestyle") vehicles. Current information from Lotus LEVA white papers and production rumors are saying Type 135 is looking towards 21700 type cylindrical cells and the Eletre will have prismatic cells from the CATL Qilin battery pack respectively.

The form factors and current design requirements are strong indicators that the batteries will have to be different.

The Eletre will be skateboard oriented with around 110 kWh of total energy, and since it's high volume, the design can prioritize higher optimized specs with less flexibility like bigger battery modules, single parts with multiple integrated functions, and load bearing structural batteries. Type 135 having a taller and much narrower "chest" shaped battery behind the driver means the battery module form factor used in a skateboard platform may not be applicable, which is the case for the Qilin battery module since it's very long and thin. The form factor and battery shape also significantly impact the cooling strategy.

Type 135 has significantly less total energy at 66.4 kWh (likely to increase but not past 100 kWh), meaning maintaining the same battery power charge/discharge rates as the Eletre would be a significantly higher percentage of the total energy, which negatively impacts the battery degradation unless you get a different battery chemistry more optimized for power likely at the cost of other things like volumetric/gravimetric energy density. And Type 135 has more flexibility designed into its platform since it's made to be adapted for other OEMs to use, which could be at the cost of some performance optimization like smaller battery modules.

The difference in production volume and manufacturing location could slightly indicate different batteries. With less production volume for Type 135, Lotus may want a more intimate and flexible partner to work with and optimize solutions instead of working with a high volume part that essentially becomes buying it off the shelf. Manufacturing location being different could have an impact, especially if there are import taxes, but at low volumes it may not be a super significant factor.

 

[donskibeat]

Britishvolt: UK battery start-up collapses into administration

The majority of Britishvolt's 232 employees have been made redundant after last minute attempts to find a buyer failed.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[dgrace]

Britishvolt: UK battery start-up collapses into administration

The majority of Britishvolt's 232 employees have been made redundant after last minute attempts to find a buyer failed.

www.bbc.co.uk

Great. Now more delays for my Evija?!!!

 

[TomE]

And Type 135 production moved to China.