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Britishvolt founder moves battery project to the Gulf

Aug 11, 2025, 8:12am EDT
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Peter Rolton, executive chairman of electric vehicle battery startup Britishvolt
Nick Carey/Reuters

Abu Dhabi is now home to the founder of Britishvolt, the collapsed startup that once represented the UK’s biggest bet on a homegrown battery-maker.

From his office in the UAE capital, Orral Nadjari is working on his second act: developing and manufacturing battery cells for high-end sport utility EVs, robots, and flying taxis, Sifted reported. But he avoided specifics in an interview, declining to offer details on where his new company has built a 50,000 square-meter factory, how much funding has been secured for the project, or where it has come from.

Britishvolt closed in 2023 after it failed to raise enough capital. Despite that public stumble, Nadjari is bullish on the future of electrification in the region. “The leadership in the GCC, the monarchs, have a get-it-done ethos which I believe to a certain degree we might be lacking in Europe,” he said.

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