South Yorkshire, in the UK, looks set to become the new location for the Ultimate Battery Company (UBC), a company focussed on developing a new generation of greener vehicle batteries that is currently based in Hyde, Manchester.
UBC has chosen to site its new Research & Development and manufacturing facility in Sheffield, the company has announced.
The decision followed a pledge from South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to provide a total of £5.2m in financial support (£3.2m loan and £2m grant) to the company to enable them to develop technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and establish energy storage solutions. The new R&D and manufacturing facility is expected to create 495 new jobs over the next few years.
“The team at SYMCA helped to guide us through the funding process and put us in touch with the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which is now our partner in research and development of our new battery technologies,” said Maurizio Cunningham-Brown, CEO of the Ultimate Battery Company.
The company’s aim is to design a new battery using highly conductive polymer plates to make this lighter, more powerful and affordable. The battery provides a lithium-like performance at 35% of the cost, enabling twice the energy to be stored in the same physical space and providing a faster charging rate. The batteries that UBC has developed also significantly reduce weight by up to 15kg per vehicle, further driving down both CO2 emissions and manufacturing costs, while increasing energy densities. Fully recyclable, they are designed for the circular economy.
UBC will also continue to collaborate with Sheffield’s AMRC on making the switch to electric vehicles easier for manufacturers.
According to Malcolm Earp, CCO and COO at the Ultimate Battery Company, the main reason for the slow uptake of electric vehicles is the increased cost compared with a traditional combustion engine motor vehicle.
“Our new battery changes the dynamics – not only will the electric vehicles achieve purchase price parity with traditional cars, but total cost of ownership will be significantly less in terms of both lower operating and maintenance costs.” he explained.
“The demand for these products is out there and has already been confirmed by a wide range of leading automotive manufacturers and other related industries. As such, we are confident that with the resources we will have in place at our new facility and the technology we are looking to bring online, we can accelerate the switch to electric vehicles long before the 2040 target.”