Recharge Industries has been selected as the preferred bidder for the collapsed business and its assets.

Australian battery start-up Recharge Industries has been selected as the preferred bidder for Britishvolt after it tabled a competitive bid to revive the collapsed manufacturer.

Owned by American investment fund Scale Facilitation, Recharge also has early-stage plans to build a gigafactory near Melbourne in Australia.

It aims to manufacture lithium-ion batteries without using materials from China or Russia, amid increased global hostility with the two nations.

Recharge’s acquisition of Britishvolt’s assets – including prototype battery technology reported to have attracted a small order from Mercedes-Benz – may help to accelerate its development timeline.

The start-up currently uses technology from American company Charge CCCV (C4V).

Recharge founder David Collard said: “We’re thrilled to be progressing with our proposed bid for Britishvolt and can’t wait to get started making a reality of our plans to build the UK’s first gigafactory.

“After a competitive and rigorous process, we’re confident our proposal will deliver a strong outcome for all involved.”

Britishvolt went into administration on 17 January 2023, ending months of difficulties that often landed in view of the public.

It narrowly avoided collapse in November 2022 after securing several million pounds in funding, said to be from mining firm Glencore. Combined with a voluntary pay cut for its near-300 staff, this gave Britishvolt sufficient funding to survive until early December 2022.

The company was previously prepared to enter administration after the government rejected a request for £30m (AUD$52m) (of the $175m promised) in advance funding to prevent its collapse.