British battery startup Raeon has come out of stealth mode to unveil affordable custom batteries for forklifts, robots and other battery-powered materials handling equipment.

Raeon says it’s tackling a problem faced by many small to medium sized vehicle manufacturers: unaffordable battery development costs. 

Using a new approach to assemble batteries, Raeon says it can drastically cut development costs and lead times to make customised batteries that can fit into awkward non-rectangular spaces. 

Raeon was founded in May 2023 by former staff of electric van startup Arrival, which placed the British arm of its operations into administration in February this year. 

“Having experienced first-hand the cost of development and the subsequent intolerance to design iteration therein, a new method for constructing battery modules was conceived,” the company says in a statement. 

“This method brings significantly reduced cost and development time but also releases customers from the current tooling constraints seen in most batteries - customers are free to upgrade the cell type mid-way through production, making the most of the latest technologies on the market and customers can have ‘any shape’ to make the most of their available space - this is particularly useful for applications where large rectangular spaces aren’t typically desired.” 

Raeon’s products will be on display at the Battery Cells and Systems Expo in Birmingham on May 15 and 16.