AVANT FUTURE MOBILITY: Experience the Power of Connecting People

Across Europe, there are more than 30 gigafactories busy with development and commercialisation of cell design and assembly technology to meet the inevitable incoming surge of demand for batteries that will drive electric cars and the future of mobility.

Producing batteries at scale is not easy. The technical knowledge and the significant funding are the first hurdles. Availability of raw materials, global supply chains, logistical channels, and a skills shortage make up a second set of challenges. But there is no doubt, decarbonising transportation is happening and the evolution away from fossil fuel-powered combustion engines is underway.

Gigafactories – popularised by the Tesla site in Nevada – are the power behind these new engines. But the energy that runs through them remains human. And in order for the decarbonisation journey to continue, the right people must be introduced to the industry.

Currently, most gigafactories in Europe are facing delays as demand far outstrips supply and manufacturers compete for raw materials. The market is so buoyant that new players are entering, and traditional OEMs are evaluating how best to secure supply of batteries, going so far, in the case of Tesla and GM, to invest in upstream mining operations, as part of a strategic decision to become as vertically integrated as possible.

But the key concern is the flow of people. There is a battery engineering and assembly skills shortage. There is a significant amount of knowledge within a very small community, largely within Asia, specifically China and South Korea. There is a need for positive connections to open up opportunities. Without people, the industry will not be able to advance, and net zero transportation will remain a pipedream.

FUTURE OF MOBILITY

UK-based AVANT is enabling the future of mobility in order to help decarbonise transportation as the talent partner of the EV battery industry, using a multi-decade network to power recruitment decisions as well as introduce the sector to industry partners and investors.

Managing Director at AVANT, Richard Surridge, tells Energy Focus that there is already a dire need for expertise in order for the net zero rollout to thrive.

“We want to drill down in battery engineering,” he states. “Over the next decade, there is going to be huge demand and a scarcity of supply. Securing people and partners is going to be more vital than ever. This is not work you can do on your own and the industry is nascent. We’re recruiting battery engineers for a dozen European gigafactories today, but there is more work to be done, such as introducing partners and investors, as well as helping the wider supply chain.”

There are specialist facilities across the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Finland, and more, and the knowledge and experience requirement growing in these booming powerhouses is an opportunity.

“We will be expanding our team in the UK and our team in Poland. At the same time, the US is going through the same thing, building gigafactories to produce batteries for the 14 million cars that are sold in the US – we will be expanding our US team in Orlando to deliver into that. We want to match our growth to that of the gigafactories and by any measure, demand outstrips supply – whether that is raw materials from the ground or people walking in the door. The growth to replace every engine with batteries is massive. Our purpose is to help enable that, through connecting the industry with the resources needed to achieve it.”

BOOMING BUSINESS

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the market for electric cars broke records in 2020, with global stock reaching 10 million – a 43% increase on 2019. In Europe, while the entire car market contracted as a result of the pandemic, new registrations for electric cars hit 10% of the total, doubling on the previous year. With government schemes supporting rollout, and automakers offering a whole host of different models, there is much to entice consumers.

But the supply chain struggles to keep up. Prices for lithium doubled between 2016 and 2018. Demand for lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide was up 20% in 2019. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, its lithium price index had risen by 182.6% year-on-year as of mid-December 2022. This is concerning as it paints a picture of a world where decarbonising is becoming more expensive. Battery engineers are working on developing battery chemistries to reduce or entirely remove the need for Cobalt, which relieves the burden on the supply chain, but also reduces the need for the metal to be mined in the first place, often in less than palatable working conditions. The World Economic Forum suggests that by 2030, 50% of total automotive sales could come from electric vehicles. Gigafactories must put human resources in place now to ensure they can survive in what is set to be a flourishing and enduring but competitive market.

“There is an assumption that over the next two decades, every car will miraculously turn from internal combustion to electric. That will happen, but it will be slow,” says Surridge. “Behind the scenes, a lot of people are needed. A lot of partnerships are needed, and a lot of money is needed. Drivers won’t see the years of effort required to undertake this transition – they will just see electric vehicles permeate their lives. AVANT’s contribution is to ensure we use our market intelligence, knowledge and networks to connect the battery sector with the right engineering talent, partners and investors, in order to help develop and industrialise the technology required to decarbonise transport.”

AVANT will drive future mobility through its networks which, according to Surridge, are bigger and stronger than what can be found anywhere else. More than 20 years in the industry have helped the entrepreneur to build partnerships across the globe, creating a reputation for excellence and a building a deep understanding of client operations and needs.

“I have been in automotive and future mobility recruitment for 22 years,” he says. “I have developed networks in automotive and been a part of the transition towards electric cars and autonomous vehicles, and subsequently the development of batteries for the industry. We are constantly talking to and engaging with people, whether they come to us or we reach out to them, so that when a client comes to us and is looking for engineers, we can support them.

“It could be a solid-state gigafactory in Spain that has received government funding who needs engineers to help develop battery technology. We dive into our networks and provide those engineers.”

Whether it’s e-Powertrain or battery technology, AVANT has networks that can support. The company, officially established in 2018, is home to 16 people and part of the larger nGAGE business (an international group of specialist recruitment agencies). Through this network, AVANT asks questions, understands needs, and develops an information eco-system around the industry to provide unrivalled service.

“The clever bit sits with our clients – they are doing fantastic engineering,” admits Surridge. “We are networking a population of people to understand who is available, what skills do they have, what they want, where they want to be, and how much it will cost. We then connect them with our clients. Our purpose is to leverage the networks we have built to connect our clients with the talent they need to deliver the future of mobility.”

AVANT +

Recruitment is time consuming, fraught with challenges, and potentially a risk to business if handled incorrectly. But when a best-in-class partner is engaged, and the process is given the thorough attention it deserves, businesses can gain more than just talent. Surridge recognised this, establishing AVANT +, a division home to market intelligence developed as a by-product of recruitment.

“We take that knowledge and use that to connect our clients in a kind of B2B introduction,” explains Surridge. “If we have gigafactory clients and a number of R&D clients doing relevant work, we will connect the two to help the gigafactories improve technologies and differentiate themselves in the market.

“That is why we offer AVANT +, to differentiate ourselves in what is a crowded market. We separate ourselves through knowledge and experience.”

A vital element of this service is putting clients in touch with investors. In the EV rollout and the battery space, seed capital is often required to turn ideas around future mobility into reality. There are many venture capitalists viewing decarbonisation of transport as an opportunity, but pairing them with the right ideas is a challenge and again comes down to a robust network.

“Out AVANT + network includes corporate investors and venture capitalists that have a broad decarbonisation thesis and our clients are invariably looking to raise capital so we can connect those companies to those investors,” says Surridge, always with one eye on the longer-term Net Zero goal.

BUILDING CONNECTIONS

By just providing its very core function, there is no doubt that AVANT will grow in line with the industry. The battery industry and the wider sector around EV engineering requires skills, and AVANT is strongly positioned to provide connections.

“At a very high level, we are a networking business that is connecting the future mobility sector with talent partners and investors, with a specific focus on batteries and ePowertrain. We do that all over the world, with teams in the UK, Europe, and the USA,” says Surridge of the current scale within AVANT.

He highlights the opportunities across the space that will lead to further growth of the business, provided AVANT can continue to deliver quality.

“There are some generic recruiters that operate in our space – there are lots of recruiters and the market is very saturated. There are some UK companies that do what we do and I would have previously listed a number of agencies as our main competition. But today, it is unquestionably internal talent teams. The UK is more mature in terms of the recruitment space than Europe and the US, and there is a lot of experience in the UK industry. That does lead to some competition but we are very specialised and experienced, and that is what separates us.”

According to McKinsey & Company, the battery value chain is expected to increase by 10 times by the end of the decade, reaching annual revenues as high as $410 billion. This speed of growth results in shortages of labour, and this is where AVANT’s company pillars are increasingly appealing.

“The three pillars in our logo represent exactly what we do – connecting the sector with talent, partners and investors. We connect it all together to play our part in decarbonising transport,” Surridge details. “We are globally present and we work across the industry. We start with the process of engineering, turning raw materials into something useable in battery and we then go downstream through second life and recycling, and we also have the ePowertrain side of it. “

These skills are in demand and the growing gigafactory market across Europe, and around the world, requires a knowledgeable approach that is only delivered by a small group of experienced industry professionals. Surridge invites leaders in the industry to experience AVANT’s power of connecting people.

“There is a scarcity of talent and we are specialists in finding it,” he concludes.