Housed within DHL’s 146,000-square-foot EV Centre of Excellence, a joint venture battery hub supports manufacturers and fleet operators across the UK. It combines specialist safety infrastructure, remanufacturing workshops and on-site energy storage to meet tightening regulations and rising demand for transparency around battery health and end of life processing.
DHL Supply Chain and Cox Automotive have opened the UK’s largest EV battery service centre in Rugby. Spanning 35,000-square-foot, the facility is housed within DHL’s 146,000-square-foot EV Centre of Excellence and dedicated to the repair, remanufacturing logistics and storage of EV batteries. Designed to support “in-life” battery services, the site caters to manufacturers and fleet operators across the UK.
Handling, transporting and storing EV batteries present complex challenges, including critical safety concerns such as thermal runaway, which can lead to fires that are difficult to extinguish, and the need for specialised infrastructure to manage and safely transport lithium battery cells. Paul Stone, managing director of manufacturing logistics at DHL Supply Chain, emphasised: “We’ve been listening and working with the [automotive] industry to develop a more robust end-to-end solution for EV batteries – one that addresses these challenges effectively and reliably.”
The Rugby facility is designed to comply with the latest government regulations and meet current battery safety standards.
Snapshot of regulatory considerations for battery transport
Lithium-ion batteries exceeding 100Wh [watt hour] generally face more stringent packaging and shipping rules.
Regulations mandate that packaging must prevent short circuits and physical damage, with specific casing requirements based on strength, conductivity and resistance to fire and explosions.
Shipments over 333kg, typical of complete BEV batteries, must meet stricter testing protocols.
Cells/batteries must be in isolated packaging during transport to avoid conductive contact and the risk of thermal events.
Source: Automotive Logistics
A core focus of the Rugby site is extending battery life through diagnostic triage, repair and remanufacturing services. DHL has invested over £800,000 ($1.06 million) in a Battery Energy Storage System designed to discharge EV batteries and re-circulate energy back into the site and its remanufacturing processes.
At the 2025 Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Europe conference, Aleksej Krükov, general manager overseas service EMEA at CATL, highlighted the increasing complexity of managing hazardous lithium-ion batteries at end-of-life. “Transporting a defective or end-of-life battery is significantly more complex than moving a new one,” he explained.
Research from Cox Automotive further revealed that 58% of UK drivers desire more transparency around battery health, lifespan and recycling options. DHL’s Stone remarked: “Alongside Cox Automotive, we are setting the new standard for EV battery circularity and this cooperation represents a major step forward in creating a scalable circular economy for batteries in the UK.”
Martin Forbes, president of Cox Automotive International, echoed this sentiment: “As the automotive industry attempts to balance government mandates, consumer concerns about the durability of EVs, and a lack of technical expertise, the market requires tangible solutions and infrastructure to address barriers to EV adoption.”
The launch of the Rugby facility marks Cox Automotive’s continued expansion of its EV Battery Solutions business into the UK and Europe, building on its earlier success in the US. This move aligns with a broader trend among European automakers and related service providers to localise battery-related operations, aiming to reduce global supply chain risks and meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations.
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