A FAST-GROWING battery technology firm has signed a deal worth “several millions” with a major car manufacturer to power the vehicles of the future.

Scott Brown, chief executive of Nexeon, which employs 45 people at its Milton Park headquarters, said that the contract to develop battery anodes from silicon instead of carbon means that he is now looking to hire another ten people.

But he remained coy about the identity of the “major car manufacturer”. He said: “It is a household name but they have asked us not reveal it yet. They are paying for the research to optimise the silicon batteries, which have a far better power to weight ratio than conventional carbon batteries.”

In a separate development the company has raised £15m from Invesco Perpetual, based in Henley, and Imperial Innovations to set up a factory to produce the silicon.

Dr Brown said: “We would like the new facility to be as near as possible to Oxford — so we can keep an eye on it. We expect to employ another 40 people at the new facility, which should be up and running by 2013.”