LONDON — UK battery startup Britishvolt mentioned it’s in talks with a consortium of traders about promoting a majority stake within the firm, however didn’t disclose any names.

The corporate mentioned again in November that it had obtained short-term monetary backing to assist it keep afloat. It mentioned the most recent discussions had been aimed toward offering the “long-term sustainability and funding essential to allow it to pursue” growing and manufacturing batteries in Britain.

“The 2 events will present additional particulars on the acceptable time and don’t have anything additional so as to add at this stage,” Britishvolt mentioned.

Britishvolt has outlined plans for a 3.8 billion pound ($4.6 billion) 38 gigawatt-hour plant in Blyth in England’s industrial north to construct electrical automobile batteries and final 12 months gained 100 million kilos in authorities backing – albeit payable solely after building started.

Britishvolt had obtained backing from mining group Glencore, which kicked off a funding spherical for the startup final February.

The British authorities below former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had touted Britishvolt’s venture as a significant milestone towards constructing an EV business because the nation heads towards a ban on combustion engine automobiles in 2030.

However as of final summer season, Britishvolt mentioned it had solely raised round 200 million kilos and pushed again its manufacturing timeline citing “tough exterior financial headwinds.”

Whereas Britishvolt is small, the location that it owns at Blyth is taken into account by business consultants to be Britain’s greatest “shovel-ready” location for a battery manufacturing unit, with loads of renewable energy out there.

The plant already has planning permission and native political help, which means that an investor with sufficient monetary backing may construct a manufacturing unit comparatively rapidly.

Auto business executives have mentioned that with out native battery manufacturing, a lot of Britain’s automotive business may shift abroad.