Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group focused on supporting the transition to net zero, is pleased to announce the appointment of senior automotive industry expert Tony Harper as Board Advisor – Partnerships & Advocacy.
Harper was most recently Director of the Faraday Battery Challenge, the UK’s flagship £610m research and innovation programme for the battery technology sector, and has over 38 years’ experience in the automotive industry. Prior to joining UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in 2018, he was Director of Engineering Research for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
With a distinguished career in engineering and research, Harper brings extensive expertise and industry contacts to Altilium, which will be pivotal as the company continues to develop and scale its innovative recycling processes for end-of-life EV batteries, contributing to a circular economy and reducing reliance on newly mined materials.
In his new role, Harper will focus on leveraging his industry knowledge and wide-ranging network to forge impactful relationships with key stakeholders and strategic partners, supporting Altilium’s mission to become the battery recycling partner of choice for automotive OEMs. His appointment will be instrumental in expanding Altilium’s engagement with both industry partners and government bodies, fostering new collaborations, influencing policy frameworks and advocating for a more sustainable transport future.
During his time at the Faraday Battery Challenge, Harper was responsible for overseeing all of the programme’s activities and investments to support the development of new battery technologies and innovative UK businesses across the battery supply chain. This included funding, delivery oversight and national policy direction for the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), the UK’s £220m investment in an open-access national battery manufacturing development facility, as well as successful delivery of the Faraday Innovation Programme, investing £130m of public funding in scaling high tech battery businesses and securing £800m of direct private investment. This resulted in Faraday supported start-ups raising £1.7Bn in Venture Capital investment creating a cohort of companies worth at least £3.2Bn.
Harper began his career at Jaguar Cars as a graduate engineer in 1986. In the early 1990s, he led Jaguar’s development and use of pioneering Knowledge Based Engineering systems automating sophisticated rule-based Design tasks, something that today is referred to as Artificial Intelligence. In 1999, Harper was appointed as head of Jaguar’s Vehicle Engineering team responsible for Vehicle Concept Design, Aerodynamics and Computer Aided Engineering. After a period of secondment to Ford’s International Operations, he joined JLR’s combined Product Development Operations in 2006 to head up the Research and Advanced Engineering group. As Director of Engineering Research, Harper conceived, led and oversaw the delivery of all of JLR’s low and zero emission research vehicle and technology projects and demonstrators from 2009 up to the initiation of the iPace programme in 2015.
Harper is a chartered engineer, a fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In addition, he is an elected member of the UK Automotive Council Technology Group and sits on a number of industry advisory councils.
Tony Harper commented:
“This is an exciting time to be joining Altilium. Their mission to build a circular economy for EV batteries, securing resilience, prosperity and growth as we drive toward a more sustainable future, is absolutely critical. It is vital that we scale and secure this capability in the UK. Atilium have the right technology, the right team and I look forward to doing whatever I can to help them deliver.”
Altilium COO, Dr Christian Marston, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Tony to Altilium. His wealth of experience in automotive research and engineering will be instrumental in driving our mission forward. During his time at the Faraday Battery Challenge Tony tirelessly championed the development of a world-leading battery technology sector here in the UK and his insights and leadership will be critical to the successful scale-up of Altilium’s operations and the development of a sustainable domestic supply chain for battery materials.”
The appointment comes at a time of significant growth for Altilium. During the past 18 months the company has secured investment from Marubeni Corporation and SQM Lithium Ventures, and continued to scale-up its UK operations with the commissioning of its ACT2 EV battery recycling facility in Devon. The 18,000 square foot facility is the only plant in the UK capable of producing large volumes of precursor cathode active materials (P-CAM) and cathode active materials (CAM) from recycled EV battery waste. The company is also working with UK OEMs to qualify its battery materials and recently delivered its second shipment of recycled CAM to UKBIC for battery cell production.
About Altilium
Altilium is a UK-based clean tech group that will reshape the UK and European automotive supply chain by offering high volume, low carbon domestic sources of cathode and anode materials from recycling waste streams already in circulation, such as end-of-life batteries.
The company’s proprietary EcoCathode™ process converts end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into domestic, sustainable battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM) for direct reuse in new batteries.
Altilium’s first mini-commercial plant recently commenced operations in Plymouth while its planned Teesside plant will be one of the largest EV battery recycling facilities in Europe. The plant will have the capacity to process scrap from over 150,000 EVs per year, producing 30,000 MT of CAM, enough to meet around 20% of the UK’s expected needs by 2030.
The company is backed by SQM Lithium Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the lithium business of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), and Japanese trading and investment group Marubeni Corporation.
For more information, go to www.altilium.tech
