Powervault: London Mayor-backed Tesla battery rival collapses
Battery storage firm Powervault, which had been tipped to become the UK rival to Tesla, has collapsed into administration, Morning Wire can reveal.
The London-based company, which had been backed by the Mayor of London’s Greater London Investment Fund as well as the British Business Bank, has appointed administrators Menzies to oversee its wind-down, according to corporate filings.
The business, which develops wall-mounted batteries for use in the home, such as for storing energy from solar panels or charging EVs, suffered a loss of around £2.5m in 2024, its latest accounts show.
Powervault had raised more than £10m from investors to grow the business into a fully-fledged rival to Tesla’s Powerwall system, including a £3.8m funding round in 2023.
Founded in 2012, it had been backed by the likes of serial investor Simon Acland as well as Harmony Energy founder Peter Kavanagh and Cornwall Insight founder Nigel Cornwall. The company also had a partnership with Octopus Energy.
Powervault acknowledged the administration but did not respond to a request for comment. Menzies declined to comment.
Battery startups run out of juice
The firm’s collapse is the latest sign of British firms struggling to gain a foothold in the battery technology market under pressure from cheaper alternatives from China and tighter funding compared to the US. It follows the collapse of UK-based EV battery startup Britishvolt.
Britishvolt entered administration in January 2023 after last-ditch rescue talks collapsed with several investors.
The moves made the majority of its 300 staff redundant, with the battery start-up filing for administration after its board ultimately decided there were no viable bids to keep the company afloat.
The future of Britishvolt had been in doubt for months, after it failed to secure further Government funds last October to build its £3.8bn gigafactory in Northumberland.
The following month, the company was bought by Australian firm Recharge Industries.
Last year, electric vehicle business Lunaz, which had been backed by David Beckham and championed by Sir Keir Starmer, put its commercial arm into administration after production setbacks, the Standard can reveal.
The Silverstone-based company installed battery electric engines into commercial vehicles such as lorries.