Battery pack developer IONETIC has revealed the first details of its plans for a £5 million smart battery production pilot plant, which it claims will help cut development costs for electric vehicles (EVs).
The 5,000-square-foot plant, called the Arc Fab Pilot, is set to be located in Brackley and will also serve as IONETIC’s global HQ. Unlike traditional production lines, the Arc Fab system can produce a wide variety of battery pack designs on a single line, cutting the time it takes to produce batteries significantly.
Additionally, IONETIC’s Arc Technology stack can create optimised EV battery designs in just days, rather than the usual timeframe of several months. According to the company, this can cut time to market by over 80% and thus save companies millions.
James Eaton, CEO and co-founder of IONETIC, said: “With EV adoption accelerating, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need effective, flexible battery solutions. By embedding agility into the core of our production model, we’re removing the most significant barriers to custom EV battery production; cost, time, risk and scalability.
“Arc Fab Pilot will be the first step towards unleashing the potential of our Arc technology stack, allowing us to produce custom battery packs at a speed and price point that the current market simply doesn’t allow for, from right here in the UK.”
The company aims to create a new middle ground in the EV battery market, providing a solution that falls between off-the-shelf batteries that may not fit the needs of the client, and high-priced custom solutions only accessible by the largest OEMs.
“At a time when diversification in the EV battery pack market is more important than ever,” continues Eaton, “our mission is to reduce compromises for our partners and make custom battery production accessible, adaptable, and aligned with the future of mobility.”
UK battery manufacturing on the rise
The news comes just weeks after National Grid announced that it had begun multi-million-pound engineering works to support the creation of a 40GWh battery factory in Bridgwater, in the south of England, being planned by Tata Group’s global battery business, Agratas.
The plant is due to open in 2026 and once complete, aims to supply almost half of the batteries that the UK EV industry will need by the early 2030’s.
