The investment follows the UK government’s £452 million Battery Innovation Programme, announced in June, and marks the launch of a series of long-term projects designed to cement the UK’s leadership in battery technology.
Set to begin in October 2025, the initiatives will address commercial-scale manufacturing and explore novel materials for higher performance and reduced reliance on critical minerals.
Industry Minister Sarah Jones said the investment shows the government’s commitment to “turbocharge growth” and “fast-track new technologies to market”.
One of the funded projects, FAST (Advancing Battery Formation, Ageing and Testing), is led by Professor Emma Kendrick at the University of Birmingham. It will create science-led protocols to optimise the final manufacturing stages of batteries, reducing energy use and improving performance for gigafactory-scale production.
The second project, 3D-CAT, is led by Dr Robert House at the University of Oxford. It will focus on developing lithium-rich 3D cathode materials to outperform conventional chemistries, while avoiding reliance on expensive or geopolitically sensitive precursors.
Both projects run until 2028 and form the first phase of Faraday’s new “Transformational Challenges” research stream. A further initiative, UltraStore, will look at long-duration storage for grid applications.
Professor Martin Freer, CEO of the Faraday Institution, said: “This is about getting real-world breakthroughs into industry. We’re making battery production faster, cleaner and more competitive — and setting the pace globally.”
