The UK’s supposedly marvellous ‘net zero’ electric future hits a bump in the road.
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UK battery start-up Britishvolt could run out of money and go into administration after the government rejected a £30m advance in funding, reports BBC News.
The firm wants to build a factory in Blyth in Northumberland which would build batteries for electric vehicles.
The government, which had championed the development, had committed a total £100m to Britishvolt for the project.
It is understood the firm wanted to draw down nearly a third of the funding early but the government refused.
It has left the £3.8bn project, which has already been delayed several times, in doubt.
Britishvolt has struggled to find investors to help fund the construction of its so called gigafactory in Blyth which was expected to create 3,000 jobs.
It had been heralded by ministers as an example of “levelling up”, a Conservative aim of investing in communities to reduce economic imbalances with other parts of the country.
Blyth made election history in 2019 when it changed from Labour to the Conservatives.
The firm, which is yet to make any revenue, has in recent months held urgent talks to try to secure fresh funds to stay afloat.
A Britishvolt spokesperson said the company was “aware of market speculation” and was “actively working on several potential scenarios that offer the required stability”.
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
Strange…
If I wanted to build an EV battery factory I’d build it somewhere with ready access to materials and in particular cheap reliable energy.
But hey, what would *I* know?
catweazle, you are not supposed to apply logical thinking to green spin. The greens only want the sheeple to bend over and take it.
Surely catweazle wouldn’t be immune to generous government subsidies 😆
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Typical bright spark Made in England, More life in a Supermarket pack of Aspirins. ( used to get 100 & 200 aspirin bottles )
This is garbled even for the BBC, presumably because they are trying to make a Tory government look bad but don’t know quite why. It’s a £3.8 billion project, but has “struggled to find investors” so presumably has got nowhere near enough funding. It seems to want to draw down from a government commitment of £100m “early” because otherwise it can’t carry on trying to find funding. Presumably the government has rightly said the money isn’t to keep you afloat but pset of project funding and has taken the view its not going to find the £3.8 billion.
Net zero is a very stupid idea and anyone who believes in it should stop exhaling CO2, right now!
“This is garbled even for the BBC”
The business model for BBC et al appears to be they receive a press release from an entity – business or government or researchers – and they assign it to a reporter to edit it for public consumption. There is little original production from BBC. They are incompetent stenographers.
The reporter, such as Dearbail Jordan, Business reporter, BBC News, knows nothing of the subject. The reporter doesn’t try to understand the subject, certainly not investigate. They are simply translators. And their bosses expect them to insert BBC’s agenda. Like “climate change.”
So you have stories being told for the second time by people who don’t understand, nor even try to understand. Indeed, it could make their job a lot harder if they did understand. Knowledge and intellect don’t help when the boss is telling you what to say.
phys.org is another publisher that mashes up what is originally said.
“Journalism: a profession whose business it is to explain to others what it personally does not understand.” – Alfred Harmsworth, founder of the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror
As it is for Europe, so for the UK…
‘a lack of lithium reserves in Europe will likely force the EU to look elsewhere to develop its mining activities, once again making it reliant on external powers for its energy security.’
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Europe-Must-Act-Now-To-Secure-Lithium-Supply.html
The campaign to eliminate internal combustion engines from our roads is in the minds of middle class garage owning detached housing people with a spare ten grand for a second car over and above the ICE version. They’ve never noticed that 12 wheel artics down to modest vans are all diesel driven. Oh and what’s the plan to decarbonise aviation I wonder? I simply cannot find the words to express loud mad hysterical laughter on these pages. Help me
London, 1 November – Net Zero Watch has warned that the Government’s strategy of green interventionism is a recipe for disaster, in light of the news that lauded battery start-up Britishvolt is on the verge of administration, with media stories creating pressure on the government to bail the company out in spite of clear signs that it has no future.
https://www.netzerowatch.com/rishi-sunak-must-resist-pressure-to-bail-out-green-losers-like-britishvolt/
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Maybe it can be sold?…
InoBat, a Slovakian business chaired by car industry veteran, has held talks with Britishvolt’s potential administrators EY to take on plans to build the plant in Northumberland.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/11/02/britishvolt-staff-take-pay-cut-secure-electric-car-battery-champions/
A hefty government bung might help 🙄