A leading independent developer of lithium-ion energy storage technologies, Hyperdrive Innovation has secured investment totalling £3.2 million ahead of launching two new innovative modular battery systems later this year.
Hyperdrive Innovation’s investment came from a combination of venture capital firms, Hamilton Capital Partners and Rivers Capital, alongside R&D grant funding from Innovate UK and the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).
The Sunderland-based firm is a development and manufacturing partner for OEMs seeking specialist expertise to electrify cars and commercial vehicles, off-highway vehicles, industrial robots and stationary energy storage solutions.
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It has also successfully electrified an autonomous marine vehicle and last year supplied batteries for Europe’s fastest road legal electric vehicle.
Hyperdrive’s batteries incorporate patented battery management technology which can be adapted for use with different cell chemistries to provide electric power.
The company expect to use the funding to further develop its product range and make significant productivity improvements in battery pack manufacture.
Managing director and co-founder, Stephen Irish commented: “The diverse nature of projects we are involved in demonstrates that we are able to act as a partner for any OEM that needs to introduce cutting-edge battery technology and management systems to electrify its products.
“The future of low carbon transportation globally depends on companies such as ours working with vehicle manufacturers on innovative low carbon powertrains. We expect this year to bring a further step change as Hyperdrive Innovation continues to accelerate electrification in the low-carbon vehicle sector and the continued development of more sophisticated energy storage systems.”
Formed in 2012, Hyperdrive Innovation recently secured a substantial Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) grant in collaboration with Nissan; Warwick Manufacturing Group; University of Warwick; Newcastle University, and Zero Carbon Futures.
The consortium is working together on key areas of battery development covering pilot projects, product diversification and process improvement.
Hyperdrive is a founder member of the North East Automotive Alliance (NEAA), which has been established to support the growth of the sector in the region, and is actively recruiting in engineering and operational roles. The company is seeking experienced battery distribution partners and has capacity at the Sunderland plant to ramp up production to 10,000 battery packs a year.
