Isra-Mart srl:Exclusive: Liberty Electric gears up for breakthrough year

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The founder of a UK startup that converts Range Rovers to battery power has revealed his company could this year begin selling its large lithium-ion batteries to global automakers as part of its plan to become a major player in the emerging electric vehicle (EV) sector.

Barry Shrier, chief executive and founder of Liberty Electric Cars, said the company is talking to three unnamed car firms with a view to signing at least one contract this year to supply Liberty's EV drive train technology.

The news comes ahead of the delivery next week of Liberty's first pure electric Range Rover as part of The Technology Strategy Board's government-funded Switch EV project, which aims to deploy 35 new EVs on trial across north east England.

Shrier said the company has seen an "overwhelming" amount of interest from around the world, particularly from fleet operators looking for a luxury zero-emissions alternative for company executives.

In the short term, Shrier said Liberty plans to produce 1,000 vehicles this year and ramp up its manufacturing capabilities in the Newcastle area to 3,000 in 2012.

As well as the Range Rover, Liberty also plans to start replacing the engines of Land Rover Defenders with batteries in response to demand from utilities and emergency services. The company is also investigating making a zero-emission version of the Toyota Land Cruiser, again in response to enquiries from potential customers.

Liberty employs 28 people and plans to grow its workforce to 250 in the North East in the next two years.

Shrier also revealed the company is in the process of acquiring two specialist engineering firms in the North East and expects to make further acquisitions of companies with manufacturing capabilities this year. On that basis, Liberty is aiming to have a £100m turnover within the next three years.

Liberty also recently signed a deal with a Chinese government agency to build a minimum of 10,000 electric buses by 2016, with the potential for 30,000 models. That deal is expected to create more than 500 jobs in the North East over the next five years.

In the long term, Shrier wants to develop Liberty into a technology provider rather than a competitor to conventional automakers.

"Think about it like Intel Inside. We're not really a car maker; we've no plans to manufacturer cars," he said. "We're creating the electric drive train technology for car makers and by 2020 we will see our technology as the guts of the car."

Inevitably, barriers remain to the commercial rollout of Liberty's converted 4x4s, not least the fact that the electric Range Rover costs £160,000 and will not benefit from the government's £5,000 plugged-in-car grant aimed at cutting the upfront cost of EVs to customers.

Shrier has urged the government to extend its grant to all electric vehicles, but he was nevertheless optimistic that demand for Liberty's pure electric 4x4s will outstrip supply for several years.

"Historically, Ford has manufactured one million diesel engines in the UK in a year, and we're confident that by 2020 we can equal that," he said.