Turntide Technologies

By Mark Cox, General Manager, Turntide Transport

The news of the potentially successful bid for BritishVolt from Australian battery company Recharge Industries, is a positive signal that the North East can continue to fulfill its potential as a significant contributor to the decarbonisation of transport.

BritishVolt was an exemplar of the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda, so seeing the company behind one of the UK’s next-generation gigafactories entering administration proved a real disappointment to the region, the economy and the challenge to achieve net zero.

However, as I have already learned from my short time in the region since taking on the role of General Manager at Turntide’s transport division, the North East has the expertise, infrastructure and track record in engineering and automotive fields to play a critical role in the electrification of transport.

Indeed, our business, which is focused on markets electrifying commercial and industrial vehicles such as trains, marine vessels, construction plant machinery and last mile delivery vehicles, is built on a legacy of more than 60 years of electrification in the North East.

When Turntide, which is based in California and develops breakthrough sustainability technologies was looking to enter the transport electrification market, the region presented the best opportunity.

Through a £100m investment, Turntide acquired three businesses in Sunderland, Gateshead and Cramlington to create a transport division that can offer a full drive train solution to commercial and industrial vehicle manufacturers.

The combination of the capabilities, innovation and track record, combined with Turntide’s own expertise, investment and vision, is enabling this region to become ingrained in electrification, not only in the UK, but around the world.

In contrast to Turntide’s entry to the transport market, which came via acquisition, BritishVolt was essentially starting from scratch, having to develop core technology and quickly produce it at the enormous scale required by the automotive industries it would serve. This is no small feat. As a result, it faces the same challenges as most start ups in the tech space, mainly attracting investment to cover its upfront costs while it scales its technology.

However, I don’t believe that, like some tech start-ups, this is a prospect doomed to fail. The concept is sound and the location, as I have already stated, is ideal for this venture.

The deep and extensive engineering and technological capabilities of this region and its workforce, coupled with the site’s location off the North East coast, which comes with its ability to tap into clean power from North Sea wind farms and Norway’s hydroelectricity interconnector, are attractive attributes for any potential investor.

The resurrection of the opportunity to create a gigafactory in Blyth has multiple benefits. It will generate employment, both directly and for the region’s already established automotive sector, providing a fresh boost to the economy.

It will also help to accelerate the shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles and help the decarbonisation of our planet.

It is a key piece of the transport jigsaw that will see the cultural shift away from petrol and diesel vehicles. Increased battery production, a growing number of EVs on the forecourt and a better charging infrastructure, alongside the electrification of other parts of transportation, will drive a marked change in the impact transport has on the environment.

And if Recharge’s plans come to fruition, it will bring with it the additional benefit of the deployment of battery manufacturing technology using chemistry that doesn’t use cobalt or nickel. This is an area that Turntide is already active in, moving away from rare earth minerals in its technology and also looking at ways to recycle batteries to keep them in use for longer.

The expertise and infrastructure of the North East makes BritishVolt an attractive bid target. And beyond that, the region's position as a leader in electrification will remain in the form of a large cluster of companies working together to decarbonise the world.

It will also further cement the region’s position in the mission critical challenge of delivering a low carbon future that our environment and future generations desperately need.

ENDS