Unipart takes full ownership of UK battery system manufacturer Hyperbat
Logistics service provider Unipart announced on January 21, 2026 that it has taken full ownership of Hyperbat, a UK manufacturer of electric battery systems, after acquiring the remaining 50% shareholding in the company from its joint venture partner.
Unipart launched Hyperbat as a joint venture with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) in 2018Unipart
Hyperbat was established in 2018 as a specialist, high-tech
facility for low-to-mid volume, high-performance battery manufacturing based at
Unipart’s manufacturing site in Coventry.
Unipart has said that this acquisition “a significant
milestone in Unipart’s long-term commitment to electrification, advanced
manufacturing and the industrialisation of low-carbon technologies.”
It added that bringing Hyperbat into fill Unipart ownership “strengthens
a scalable UK platform delivering battery systems, power electronics, power
modules and electrical integration, supported by full lifecycle services
including manufacture, remanufacture and reuse”.
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Hyperbat’s history
Hyperbat was formed as a joint venture between Unipart and Williams
Advanced Engineering (WAE), bringing together WAE’s EV battery expertise with
Unipart’s capability in manufacturing safety-critical products for premium OEMs.
By combining the experience of the two companies, the
joint venture aimed to support the scale-up of EV production in the UK.
In December 2022, it was announced that Hyperbat had
won a multi-million-pound contract to supply battery packs to Lotus for the
all-electric Lotus Evija. By November 2023, Hyperbat had employed 50 people in
highly skilled jobs.
“We are incredibly proud of the growth journey Hyperbat has
taken,” Carol Rose Burke, managing director of manufacturing and engineering at
Unipart, said. “Hyperbat originated from an early research and development
programme, delivered through a consortium of partners at our Institute for
Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, where we identified the long-term
potential of electrification as a core part of Unipart’s manufacturing future.”
Hyperbat won a multi-million-pound contract in 2022 to supply battery packs for the Lotus EvijaUnipart
“Since then, we have deliberately invested in people and
capability, building a highly-skilled team and world-class manufacturing
expertise, including advanced welding and joining, now applied across multiple
sectors,” she explained.
Burke continued: “Bringing Hyperbat into full Unipart
ownership allows us to build on a strong foundation, scale proven capability
and continue supporting customers as they industrialise electrification and
low-carbon technologies with confidence.”
“As a supply chain performance improvement partner, our
focus is on building capability and solutions that support our customers to
perform better in an increasingly complex and fragile supply chain environment,”
added Darren Leigh, Unipart’s CEO. “Electrification and low-carbon technologies
are part of that challenge, but so too are resilience, sourcing pressure and
the need to industrialise innovation at pace.”
What does this mean for OEMs and the automotive supply chain?
“The acquisition of Hyperbat represents a major strategic achievement for Unipart, providing OEMs with a single, resilient partner in an increasingly complex supply chain," a Unipart spokesperson told Automotive Logistics. "By unifying manufacturing and logistics, we offer a unique end-to-end capability model, allowing us to manage the entire battery lifecycle – from assembly and just-in-time delivery to second-life remanufacturing."
The spokesperson noted that Unipart is committed to deepening partnerships with premium automotive OEMs, with Hyperbat coming under Unipart ownership and operating as a single entity now providing the agility and scale to support the high-performance battery solutions these manufacturers require.
“In the backdrop of the evolving EV regulatory deadlines, we have seen the need for flexibility and have intentionally designed Hyperbat’s facility to support battery systems applicable to not only EV and hybrid vehicles, but adjacent sectors too such as aerospace and marine technologies," the spokesperson added. "As OEMs broaden their production plans, our UK-based manufacturing capability provides a vital de-risking factor, offering protection from the volatility and cost of overseas supply chains.”
