Britishvolt eyes Canada for home to new battery factory

LONDON -- UK-based battery startup Britishvolt could build a second factory in Canada.

Company adviser and former Ford Motor executive Joe Bakaj said Canada is attractive "in terms of availability of renewable energy and potentially raw materials."

Bakaj said the plans are at an early stage. "We are having very good discussions with local governments," he added.

Britishvolt said last month that it had appointed Bakaj as an adviser.

Bakaj spent more than 30 years with Ford working in the U.S. and Europe. He oversaw the engineering teams that created engines in the EcoBoost lineup and retired from the automaker in 2018 when he was head of product development in Europe.

A Britishvolt spokesman said the Canada plant would be similar in size to a planned 30 gigawatt-hour plant in Blyth, England, which is scheduled to start production in 2023 and reach its capacity of 30 GWh of batteries by 2027. Construction is due to start later this year.

A 30 GWh plant would be able to supply 300,000 100 kilowatt-hour battery packs a year.

The company would target automakers building vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, the spokesman said. It would still be known in Canada as Britishvolt.

SPAC financing

CEO Orral Nadjari recently he said was looking to finance Britishvolt’s expansion by listing the company in the U.S. through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

The company has not identified any automotive customers yet, and it's unclear if any automaker will agree on a supply deal with a startup that is still seeking funding.

Many automakers such as Stellantis and Volkswagen Group have already announced plans to build batteries themselves or in partnership with battery companies, but Bakaj believes that EV sales will grow so fast that other supply sources will be needed.

“We are seeing an almost exponential rise in take-up in electric vehicles. If you look at projections in 2030, I still think there will be a lack of capacity,” he said.

A number of automakers, including Bakaj’s former employer Ford, have said they are switching to an EV-only strategy in Europe.

Europe, U.S. EV boom

Bakaj said Europe will be the world’s fastest growing region for EV sales and by 2030 more than 50 percent of the market will be battery-electric vehicles. "I think the U.S. will not be far behind," he added.

Bakaj said his role with Britishvolt was to bring to the company his automotive industry experience as the startup grows.

"Where I can help is building a corporate structure and corporate governance as the company scales up and moves into different regions in the world. I have good experience building those organization and structures," he said.

Bakaj said he was not hired specifically to introduce Britishvolt to automotive companies. "Where I can help make connections I’m happy to do that, but I would not say my job was to come in as a salesman," he said.

Instead Bakaj's automotive experience will also help Britishvolt to understand automotive development timing and what automakers expect from suppliers. "I am teaching the battery industry how to talk the same language as the auto industry," he said.