Sertec Group, a UK-based automotive component manufacturer, has invested £1.7m (US$2.36m) into its research and development (R&D) programs, to enable the UK’s first mass-production assembly line for electric vehicle batteries.

The new assembly line will be fully operational in September 2021 and when in place will have the capability to produce in excess of 40 million electric vehicle battery busbar assemblies per year. Alongside the busbar assembly line is a fully equipped pre-production facility and testing lab. The Lab, built at a cost of £500,000 (US$696,000) alone, has been invaluable in developing the company’s abilities to design and test busbars in modular battery production, Sertec says. The production cell is currently being used to prove design concepts for assemblies requiring welding of dissimilar Busbar materials.

Grant Adams, the group CEO, Sertec, said, “The investment we have made in new technology facilities are vital to the automotive industry’s ever evolving requirements for lightweight material production, which is set to become critical in future vehicle structures. As a UK first, the busbar assembly line is integral to taking electric vehicle production forward both in the region and across the UK.

“It will help establish Sertec as one of the sector leading companies for this type of battery technology and put us at the heart of a regional manufacturing hub renowned for meeting the new technologic challenges of the future.”