News - Warwick visit

Warm Welcome at Warwick

people in white coats next to large lab equipment. photo — New equipment for battery coating production was among the highlights presented by the Battery Group at WMG. Photo: FME BATTERY

During a visit to the Battery Materials and Cells Group at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), representatives from FME BATTERY were met with open arms—and promising prospects for future collaboration.

On October 20th, a delegation from FME BATTERY travelled to the heart of England to visit WMG, part of the University of Warwick. The Battery Materials and Cells Group hosted the visit, offering insights into their research activities, laboratory infrastructure, and strategic plans. Four representatives from FME BATTERY took part in the visit to strengthen ties and explore opportunities for knowledge exchange.

“We were particularly interested in WMG’s pilot line, which has been operational since 2014. With over a decade of experience, they have a great deal to teach us,” said Frode Håskjold Fagerli, leader of Work Package 4: Manufacturing at FME BATTERY and researcher at SINTEF.

"This is something we really would like to have on our pilot lines as well, as it enables control over the homogeneity and quality of the electrodes produced."

WMG is currently establishing a new laboratory with an expanded pilot line. “The new setup will allow for real-time measurement and labeling of thickness and mass during the coating process. When producing up to hundreds of metres of battery coating, this makes it possible to locate which parts of the coating are useful and which parts have to be discarded,” Fagerli explained. “This is something we really would like to have on our pilot lines as well, as it enables control over the homogeneity and quality of the electrodes produced.”

Exploring Deeper Collaboration

The visit included a comprehensive overview of WMG’s battery research, as well as demonstrations of equipment and infrastructure.

“We gained valuable insights into their workflow and picked up several useful tips and techniques, as WMG were very open to sharing. However, we also learned that there’s no universal recipe for success in working with pilot lines. The vast number of influential parameters lead to optimization being required for each individual pilot line, and for each specific material used,” Fagerli noted.

Discussions during the day touched on several avenues for collaboration, including digital courses hosted by WMG, reciprocal visits to FME partners, and the potential for extended research stays at WMG by FME BATTERY personnel.

“The pilot line community at WMG is significantly larger than in Norway, with many specialists in place. It would be a golden opportunity to spend more time learning from them—but to do this securing additional funding will be essential,” Fagerli added.