Based within the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at the University of Warwick, which opened last year to research new material  use in manufacturing, the UK Energy Storage R&D Centre is the result of £9m government funding and £4m from industry.

It forms part of a £400m government investment in supporting the low-carbon and electromobility industries, and is predicted to bring £250m to the UK economy by 2020. As well as developing electric car batteries, it will research units for commercial and off-road vehicles, as well as rail and marine applications.

Business Minister Michael Fallon said: ‘I’m pleased to announce this joint Government and industry project to develop an energy storage R&D centre at the University of Warwick. It will put the UK in a much stronger, competitive position to capitalise on a growing worldwide market for low carbon vehicles, alongside other world leaders in the field including the United States, Japan and Germany.

‘This £13 million facility will help accelerate the development of battery cells for the next generation of vehicles, is a vital investment in the future of the automotive sector. It complements over £5.5 billion that global vehicle manufacturers have committed to UK projects in the last 18 months.’

Jerry Hardcastle, global chief marketability engineer at Nissan Motor Company and chairman of the Automotive Council Technology Group, which worked alongside the government to secure funding for the new R&D centre, added: ’The announcement of the UK Energy Storage R&D Centre is great news and is further evidence that collaboration between the Government, industry and academic institutions in the UK continues to create opportunities to increase innovation and further develop the supply chain in the automotive industry.’