Ionetic, a British start-up focused on development of electric vehicle (EV) battery packs, has launched a new pilot production plant in the UK, reported Reuters.

Located in Brackley, Northamptonshire, the £5m ($7.56m) facility is expected to cater to the needs of “low-volume automakers” by offering customised battery solutions for a range of vehicles.

This plant is part of the company's efforts to produce EV battery packs that are being developed for various British and US manufacturers.

Ionetic CEO James Eaton was cited by the news agency as saying that the company is working on EV battery packs that are critical for the operation of EV.

Ionetic's strategy involves targeting manufacturers of buses, commercial vehicles, sports cars, off-road vehicles, and even golf carts or beach buggies.

Eaton said was quoted by the news agency as saying: “The really big players can throw hundreds of millions or even billions at electrification.

“But around 90% to 95% of manufacturers are small and don't have hundreds of millions of pounds to go electric.”

He said that while an automaker might spend over £30m on an in-house EV battery pack, Ionetic can develop a custom solution for under £1m.

"We want customers to spend as little as possible to get to production with a great battery pack," Eaton noted.

Currently, Ionetic is engaged in a research and development project with bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, a subsidiary of Canada's NFI Group.

In May 2024, Ionetic partnered with Rockwell Automation to leverage the latter’s hardware and software for testing battery packs virtually at the pilot plant before committing to physical production.