2025 Conference Agenda

This session focuses on the challenge of securing reliable access to critical minerals within the UK and Europe as battery and EV demand accelerates. With global competition intensifying, questions remain over how domestic supply chains can be strengthened — from extraction and processing through to downstream integration.

We’ll explore:

• The UK and Europe’s current exposure to critical mineral supply risk
• The role of domestic processing, refining and midstream capability
• What policy, investment and partnerships are needed to build resilience

We shift the focus from development to delivery — examining what it really takes to scale battery production quickly and reliably. Building a gigafactory is only the beginning; success depends on designing manufacturing operations that are robust, efficient and built for long‑term scale.

Drawing on real‑world experience, this session looks at how organisations move from pilot to production, avoid common pitfalls, and industrialise new technologies at pace.

Discussion Points: 

• Critical decisions when designing battery manufacturing operations for scale
• How to build manufacturing processes that scale reliably
• Lessons from other high‑volume manufacturing sectors

Scaling lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode production from laboratory processes to gigafactory manufacturing presents significant technical and operational challenges. As global demand for LFP batteries accelerates, manufacturers must increase solid content, maintain consistent particle quality, manage temperature effectively, and control contamination—all while reducing energy use and production costs.

This session explores how advanced wet milling technologies can bridge the gap between lab scale innovation and reliable industrial production. Using industrial case studies and performance data, it demonstrates how optimised milling processes enable ultra fine particle sizes, improved surface structures and enhanced material reactivity, directly impacting energy density, charging performance and battery lifespan. Attendees will gain practical insight into achieving scalable, efficient and cost effective high solid LFP production at gigafactory scale.

Bridging the gap between a promising battery prototype and scalable production remains one of the industry’s greatest challenges. At CIDETEC Energy Storage, the dedicated R&D partner of CIDEcell, this transition has become a core strength—supporting a portfolio of four distinct cell technologies, from ultra high energy density cells exceeding 500 Wh/kg for aerospace and eVTOL applications to robust high power cells for demanding industrial use.

This session presents a practical blueprint for accelerating time to market for customised battery cells. Through real world examples, it explores key engineering hurdles and hard won lessons in scaling bespoke chemistries, with a focus on rapid material validation, pilot line optimisation, and robust quality assurance. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of how to de risk custom cell development while moving efficiently from lab to production.

As gigafactories scale at unprecedented speed, cooling systems are often treated as an afterthought—leading to higher costs, inefficiencies, and long-term operational risks. This session challenges that mindset by presenting a smarter, more sustainable approach to factory cooling that prioritises water and energy efficiency without compromising budgets or delivery timelines.

Drawing on a modern interpretation of traditional industrial heat rejection, the session explores how cooling system design can be optimised from the outset to deliver substantial capital and operational savings. Attendees will learn how early design decisions, efficiency-driven choices, and flexible operational modes can significantly reduce water usage, improve energy performance, and lower the overall cost of production for years to come.

With European and UK gigafactories racing to reduce battery manufacturing costs to remain competitive globally, sustainable cooling strategies are no longer optional. As water scarcity intensifies year after year, designing cooling infrastructure that lasts the lifetime of the factory—without wasting water or energy—has never been more critical.
This session will focus on practical, long-term cooling plans that support sustainable growth while meeting the economic pressures facing modern manufacturing.

Key Takeaways:

• Why cooling design is a critical but underestimated factor in factory efficiency
• How early design choices can reduce long-term operational and production costs
• Practical strategies for large-scale water and energy savings
• How flexible cooling operation supports long-term factory performance

Elite Battery Systems offers a practical alternative to both fully bespoke battery development and standard off‑the‑shelf battery packs. While off‑the‑shelf solutions prioritise speed and standardisation—often forcing compromises on form factor, performance, integration, or lifetime cost—fully bespoke designs can introduce long lead times, higher engineering effort, and increased cost. Our approach sits firmly between these extremes. By configuring and integrating proven, validated components, Elite delivers genuinely customised battery packs that customers own, tailored precisely to their application without the complexity and expense of a ground‑up design. This method combines application‑fit performance with high quality, repeatability, and cost efficiency. Safety remains central throughout the process. Using established components alongside rigorous design controls and verification methods enables reliable protection and dependable performance across the full lifecycle. This session demonstrates how Elite Battery Systems delivers a “not off‑the‑shelf” solution—custom by configuration and integration—designed to meet exact operational needs. Discussion Points: • The limitations of off‑the‑shelf and fully bespoke battery pack approaches • How configurable, validated components enable true customisation without added complexity • How application‑specific design improves performance, cost efficiency, and repeatability • How safety and lifecycle reliability are maintained through proven components and rigorous design controls

Powdertech Surface Science has a firm understanding of how to specify, plan and execute dielectric coating projects. Dr Nick Welton has led coating development trials, and the coating of pre-production volumes for JLR’s new suite of electric vehicles. In this session he will highlight the key points to consider when planning dielectric coating for EV battery components, including:

• Specifications and powder selection
• Fit tolerance
• Edge coverage
• Coating defects
• Testing and quality control

The development of advanced batteries requires a deep understanding of failure mechanisms—both to effectively manage them and to accurately inform users when a critical state is reached.
At SERMA, we are developing predictive models using a methodology that combines physical analysis with data-driven approaches. In the first part of this work, we will present an overview of the degradation mechanisms affecting Li-ion batteries, supported by results obtained from aged cells using state-of-the-art characterization techniques. In the second part, we will describe our data-driven approach and explain how it is integrated with physical insights to enhance the accuracy of predictive models for estimating the State of Health (SOH) of Li-ion batteries.

Session Objectives:

• Failure mechanisms of Li-ion batteries
• The way to probe failure mechanisms in a complex system (such as a Li-ion cell)
• A methodology to provide a predictive model for SOH estimation

 

Dry electrode technology is redefining battery manufacturing by eliminating solvent-based processes and reducing energy consumption, costs, and environmental impact. Yet, achieving consistent quality and scalability requires innovative equipment capable of handling multiple steps in electrode preparation efficiently. This session will explore how integrated mixing solutions—such as the MIXACO Infinity Mixer—enable the dry electrode process by combining powder homogenization, binder distribution, and structural conditioning in a single machine. We will discuss the technical principles, performance benefits, and real-world applications that make this approach a game-changer for gigafactory-scale production and next-generation battery chemistries.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn how dry electrode technology simplifies and accelerates battery manufacturing.
• Understand the critical role of advanced mixing systems in achieving process stability.
• Discover how the MIXACO Infinity Mixer consolidates multiple preparation stages into one efficient solution.

Solid‑state batteries are often positioned as a step‑change technology for electric vehicles, promising improvements in energy density, safety and performance. This session looks beyond the hype to assess progress towards commercialisation, the remaining technical barriers, and what solid‑state could mean for future vehicle and battery design.

Discussion Points:

• The current state of solid‑state battery development
• Key technical and manufacturing challenges
• Timelines and pathways to commercial deployment

Sodium ion batteries are gaining attention as a potential alternative to lithium based technologies, particularly for applications where cost, supply security and sustainability are key considerations. This session examines the current state of sodium ion development and where the technology could realistically play a role in future energy storage and mobility markets.

Discussion points:

• Where sodium ion technology has reached in terms of performance and readiness
• Use cases where sodium ion may complement or compete with lithium ion
• Key challenges to scaling manufacturing and adoption

Securing access to critical minerals remains one of the biggest challenges facing battery and EV supply chains. This session looks at the role recycling can play in reducing supply risk, supporting domestic resilience and meeting growing demand — and where its limitations still lie.

Discussion points:

• The potential contribution of recycling to critical mineral supply
• Technical and economic challenges in scaling recycling capacity
• How recycling fits into long‑term supply chain strategies

As EV production scales, building a resilient and reliable supply chain is becoming a critical priority. This session examines the challenges facing EV manufacturers as they secure materials, components and capabilities, while managing risk, cost and complexity across global and regional supply networks.

Discussion Points:

• Key risks and constraints within today’s EV supply chains
• Strategies for strengthening resilience and reducing dependency
• How supply chain decisions impact scale, cost and competitiveness

This session provides a clear view of how the EV market is evolving, examining consumer sentiment, adoption trends and the factors shaping demand across key markets. It cuts through headlines to focus on what the data is really telling us about the pace of electrification and the challenges still affecting uptake.

Discussion Points:

• Current trends in EV adoption and consumer demand
• The impact of cost, infrastructure and incentives on purchasing decisions
• What market dynamics mean for manufacturers and policymakers

We kick off the conference with a clear-eyed view of where the UK battery and EV manufacturing sectors stand — and what must happen next. This opening plenary brings together senior industry leaders to set the strategic direction for the day, cutting through the noise to focus on competitiveness, delivery and growth.

Discussion Points:

• The real state of play for UK battery and EV manufacturing
• Where the UK can realistically compete and lead on the global stage
• What investment, policy and collaboration are needed to scale at pace

We start this session block by examining the policy and strategic choices shaping battery manufacturing in the UK and Europe. While significant investment has gone into building world‑class innovation ecosystems, questions remain over whether enough emphasis has been placed on manufacturing capability, scale and industrial delivery.

This session takes a hard look at whether Europe is setting itself up to compete globally — and what role policy, investment and international collaboration must play in building a resilient battery supply chain.

Discussion Points:

• Whether policy makers need to rebalance priorities from innovation towards manufacturing and scale
• How strong manufacturing capability enables, rather than limits, long‑term innovation
• Whether Europe should compete with, collaborate with, or learn directly from Asian manufacturers

We look at how advanced battery technologies can move from development to commercial production faster — without compromising quality, safety or compliance. As demand accelerates, reducing time to market is becoming a competitive advantage, not a nice‑to‑have.

This session explores the tools, processes and lessons that can help manufacturers shorten development cycles, de‑risk scale‑up and get products market‑ready sooner.

Discussion Points: 

• How digital tools and AI can accelerate battery development and validation
• Where certification and compliance processes can be streamlined
• What the UK can learn from Asia about industrialisation speed and scale