A former chief executive of Aston Martin Lagonda is joining a European developer of electric vehicle batteries amid an accelerating race to roll out the technology across the world’s automotive industry.
Sky News understands that Andy Palmer, who left Aston Martin earlier this year following a torrid ride on the London stock market, is to become vice-chairman of InoBat, a Slovakian company.
Mr Palmer will join InoBat soon after a €10m (£8.9m) fundraising from a consortium of investors.
Image: The car industry is trying to reinvent itself by the adoptingnew technologies
The company is understood to be developing an artificial intelligence-led battery research centre, with the first batteries scheduled for production next year.
A large Gigafactory is expected to be opened by InoBat in or around 2024.
InoBat wil be the second company that Mr Palmer has joined since he was ousted by Aston Martin, following his appointment as chairman of Optare, an electric bus company owned by the Hinduja brothers’ Ashok Leyland group.
His tenure at the maker of James Bond’s favourite car was brought to an unceremonious conclusion within two years of its London market debut, after it was forced to return to investors for hundreds of millions of pounds in extra funding.
Mr Palmer’s new roles underline the extent to which the automotive industry is attempting to reinvent itself through the adoption of new technologies, with a focus on eliminating carbon emissions.
The company’s investors and strategic partners include IPM Group, a backer of technology infrastructure company, and Wildcat Discovery Technologies.
InoBat could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.