As demand for electrical energy storage scales, production networks for lithium-ion battery manufacturing are being re-worked organisationally and geographically. The UK - like the US and EU - is seeking to onshore lithium-ion battery production and build a national battery supply chain.
Although solid state batteries do not use lithium-ion technology, Ilika is part of a broader cell and battery development ecosystem in the UK that harnesses government support (via APC, UKBIC and FBC) and private funding to develop and scale cell and battery technology.
Spotlights nexus of auto-manufacturing and lithium-ion batteries, post-Brexit. Battery supply chain shaped by a state project of green industrial transformation. State action towards onshoring converges battery science & manufacturing.
The UK too is seeking to onshore global production networks for lithium-ion batteries (LiB) and build a domestic battery supply chain. The UK case is instructive as the geopolitical dynamics of onshoring centre on maintaining the UK's role as an automobile manufacturing platform in the post-Brexit period rather than a general ‘global race’.
The EU's (European Union) new regulatory framework for batteries is setting sustainability requirements along the whole battery, including value chains. For a comprehensive assessment of battery technologies, it is necessary to include a life cycle thinking approach into consideration from the beginning.
By providing a nuanced understanding of the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of lithium-based batteries, the framework guides policymakers, manufacturers, and consumers toward more informed and sustainable choices in battery production, utilization, and end-of-life management.