This calls into question the whole economics of the UK’s climate-obsessive push for a ‘net zero’ economy. A general lack of enthusiasm for such a project is apparent, maybe due to weak EV sales. Where was the cash supposed to come from?
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UK battery start-up Britishvolt has collapsed into administration, with the majority of its 300 staff made redundant with immediate effect, reports BBC News.
Employees were told the news at an all-staff meeting on Tuesday morning.
The firm had planned to build a giant factory to make electric car batteries in Northumberland and was part of a long-term vision to boost UK manufacturing.
But its board is believed to have decided on Monday that there were no viable bids to keep the company afloat.
Industry experts say the UK will need several battery factories to support the future of UK car making as petrol and diesel engines are phased out over the next decade.
The UK currently only has one Chinese-owned plant next to the Nissan factory in Sunderland, while 35 plants are planned or already under construction in the EU.
EY, who were appointed joint administrators, described the move as “disappointing”, and said all impacted staff were being offered support.
Dan Hurd, Joint Administrator and Partner at EY, said the firm had offered “a significant opportunity to create jobs and employment, as well as support the development of technology and infrastructure needed to help with the UK’s energy transition”.
Mr Hurd said the administrators would now explore options for a sale of the business and assets.
The company was hoping to build a new £3.8bn battery factory in the Port of Blyth in Northumberland.
A person close to the matter said: “It is a great shame, not just for Britishvolt and its 300 employees but also for the future of battery making in the UK.”
. . .
The founders of Britishvolt were trying to create a £4bn facility, from scratch, without the backing of a major manufacturer.
What they did have was a vision which they hoped could surf a wave of political support – and attract the necessary funding.
Full report here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
And excuse me what about the thousands and thousands of huge diesel powered 12 wheel artics which will populate our oh so clean transport landscape? What’s the point of EVs other than virtue signalling by the rich with a garage and charging point. Oh and how will we decarbonise Heathrow? Why hasn’t the climate change committee been challenged? We produce one per cent global CO2, Chinese 31%. Stupidity, ignorance, vile mischief, ruinous economics, sinister motivation, stupidity stupidity.
“…while 35 plants are planned or already under construction in the EU.”
Hope springs eternal!
[…] From Tallbloke’s Talkshop […]
Wyoming weighs electric car ban
Jan. 16, 2023
Six Wyoming lawmakers want the state to ban electric cars in 2035.
. . .
Describing the drive to electric vehicles as a “misadventure,” they contend the lack of charging stations in Wyoming coupled with its vast highways would make driving such vehicles impractical. The bill asserts building out such a network in Wyoming and the nation would mean generating a massive amount of power.
The lawmakers note the materials used to make batteries for electric vehicles and worry that supply could be disrupted.
https://www.nbc15.com/2023/01/16/wyoming-weighs-electric-car-ban/
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Huh, I’m sitting here in +3C in an Amber ( whatever that means, really) warning area for danger to life blah blah, thinking:
Yes, where’s the money to come from for the batteries. Funny where the money comes from for all those Metal Pelicans and Storks. No wind, no fish, any amount of structures won’t bring in the ‘kohl’ . Totally disjointed economic ideas …. that’s all it is. schoolboy projects. When is the Media and public gonna grow a pair and throw out this stuff. Don a pair o’ Dungarees and get the work done? – Oh aye, I forgot how granmaw told us back in the 70’s Dungarees became expensive ‘cos folk wanted to wear Denim material – “Jeans” but didnae really want to go and work. so it all started then, way back. and THEIR bairnies , SPROGGS, are running the show now. …. an’ granny’s in her hielan hame noddin awa being consoled by the younguns who know no better and telling her stories STORIES by jove…..I know she’s fed up listening to them, but what can she do now? I have a vision, and Davos is lost in the pending avalanche. Like Pompeii after Vesuvius ….but in the ICE, according to the Jolly Expenses list. Seems like these critters have too much time on their hands – thought they were there to Discuss and share POLICY, not something else in/about ICE cars. On slippery ice, I think Ford has a lot to answer for: Trannies and Escorts, fed on the products of Herbs. And we wonder why and where these daft ideas all originate from: appearing back at work, not weary, but worn from a night of physical exertion – cos that’s how their minds work… ( inspired from something I saw between bouts of poor Satellite Comms last night from German tv news about their Defence Minister and her fore-bears and Tanks etc)
So it is a shame that 300-odd folk lost their jobs, but surely the writing was on the wall: Ethics of following the gravy train: you go where the rails take you and when you party in the wagon, ….Too many people are already on that Network – greatly overloaded. Looks like in Wyoming, aim is to protect the state’s oil and gas industries. … I’m thinking too about Norway and Scotland/UK …. Hmm Norway , hum, Oil ‘n electric cars, Norsk & Yara Boss @ Davos … being woke … do I want to be supporting them any more.. but they took over the great Fisons man yyears ago and fertiliser product quality has never been the same IMHO. and as for Home, here, I never Ford had such a big Production plant in scotland (sarc.)
Well its still raining and the Dog’s wantin out …
Did they really employ 300 planners?
This article says 232 staff, no other details. Maybe the rest are still working on a temp basis.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303149
Give me strength! just trying to get away from all the UK rubbish on news tv ( or tv news) browsing Europe Sat between snow showers now… BMW gonna build battery factory size of 200 football pitches ( they speke like that there now too) by / in 2024. so Money somewhere. Ingolstadt ( Audi) blubbering on about being Carbon neutral by ( och forgotten wot they said ( lost in mental translation) ) and some other town has solar powered self compacting Litter Bins: Press footpedal to open, put your can or other litter in and close to sound of some effects ( so’s e wee bairnies will be amused and coninue to gather rubbish for compaction: about 5x density achieved. Power lasts for 3 weeks with out Sun ( Howzat – Solar panels work day night all the time -… don’t they ( sarc)? ) Cost around 5000 Euros. value for virtue signalling ? Batteries batteries How I’m feeling Mental health ? worth a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8swtzCadEZM
Batteries batteries…. check this out. I try to keep my finger on the Pulse but I have only 4 fingers and so much going on. sometimes it’s better to see by watching rather than just reading. ( huh, tv reception back again – in Bavaria , something to do with their ‘Cote dazure’ they are now seeing so much snow which they didn’t expect to see ( due to AGW)) Maybe someone knows more than we’re getting told (on the battery scene). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awqdupSHljM and if you’re getting bored, here’s a reply to the lot – another kind of metal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3B3I7Nmvw
On your “batteries, batteries” – South Africa has a problem with them. You see, we’re in the middle (at least I HOPE there’s an ending) of “load shedding”, where we lose electricity in turn for 2-4 hours a time, up to three times a day at present. And now, the power monopoly is having trouble turning the lights back ON, because it seems that the thieves (who have been taking advantage of scheduled darkness) have found that substations themselves have batteries, to enable remote control of the circuits. So, along with cell tower batteries, these substation batteries have now become a target!
Yeah, well – when a whole country seems to be RUN by criminals, FOR criminals – what can one expect?