Levistor and the EIC Accelerator: Flywheels Beyond EV Charging

30 September 2026845 words5 min

Levistor, a London company incorporated in 2021, builds flywheel energy storage, a "kinetic battery" originally developed at City, University of London. In June 2022 the EIC Accelerator selected it for a grant for a "flywheel grid boost for ultra-rapid EV charging", according to the EIC's list of selected companies. No project for this award appears on CORDIS.

In November 2024 Levistor announced its "first commercial product trials" at National Highways' test centre at Moreton-in-Marsh from early 2025, to see whether the flywheel could support high-power charging where the motorway grid is too weak, Renewable Energy Magazine reported. By 2026 its website described the business as "smoothing damaging power pulses for industry", with EV charging one of several applications. Its accounts at Companies House show £162,789 in cash in February 2025, down from £708,167 two years earlier.

2022EIC Accelerator selection, grant only
15Average staff, year to February 2025
£163kCash, February 2025
NoneCORDIS record for the award

Company file

Legal entity
Levistor Ltd, company no. 13216670, London
Incorporated
22 February 2021
Origin
Flywheel research at City, University of London
Product
Kinetic energy storage modules and control software
Target sectors
Industry, AI data centres, hoists and cranes, rail, EV charging
Staff
15 on average (year to February 2025)
EIC award
LevistorGridBoost, June 2022 cut-off, grant only

Where Levistor Stands Now

Levistor now groups its market into four "power problems": filtering transients in data centres and crushers, shaving peaks for cranes and presses, recovering braking energy on railways, and boosting power for EV charging hubs, lasers and fusion. It says every engagement starts with measuring a customer's power profile, and that solutions are "never sold off the shelf". Its website does not report the National Highways trial results or name customers. Companies House records share allotments in November 2025, February 2026 and May 2026.

The record

A flywheel for fast charging, then for industry

Levistor was selected for an EIC grant in 2022 for a flywheel that boosts the grid for ultra-rapid EV charging. No project appears on CORDIS. After announcing a National Highways trial, the company now markets the flywheel mainly for smoothing industrial power pulses.

  1. Feb 2021Company incorporatedLondon; flywheel from City, University of London
  2. Jun 2022EIC Accelerator cut-offFlywheel grid boost for EV charginggrant only
  3. Feb 2023Share issuesSeveral allotments in February and March
  4. Nov 2024Trial announcedNational Highways, Moreton-in-Marsh
  5. Early 2025Trial due to startEV charging at the test centre
  6. Nov 2025 - May 2026More share issuesThree allotments filed
  7. 2026RepositioningPulse smoothing for industry, data centres, rail

Companies House, EIC, Renewable Energy Magazine and Levistor.

"Fast, fierce, frequent power pulses limit industrial production and force grid infrastructure sized for the peak, not the average."

Levistor, website, 2026

The Technology: Storing Energy in a Spinning Mass

A flywheel charges slowly from the grid by spinning up, then releases power in bursts. For EV charging, Levistor said it would let a driver add 100 miles of range in five minutes where the grid alone cannot supply the power. The company claims millisecond response, more than 3 million cycles without measurable degradation and an operating life of over 20 years.

The claims

What Levistor says its flywheel offers

Company claims on its website: up to 75% saving on grid expansion costs compared with conventional reinforcement, and an operating life of more than 20 years with more than 3 million pulse cycles.

Levistor website, 2026.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The spending

Accumulated losses at each February year end

The deficit grew by £86,875 in the year to February 2024 and by £609,970 in the year to February 2025, while the average workforce was 15.

Companies House, Levistor Ltd balance sheets. Values in £ thousands.

The award was for grid boosting for ultra-rapid EV charging. The National Highways trial was set up to test exactly that. But CORDIS has no grant agreement, so there is no budget, work plan or report, and the trial's results are not public.

  1. Grant agreement on CORDISAbsentNo record found.
  2. EV charging trialAnnouncedNo results published.
  3. Commercial productUnverifiedNo order announced.
  4. Market focusWidenedIndustry first, EV one case.

The Money

Levistor files abridged accounts without a profit and loss account. Its accumulated losses rose from £1.14 million in February 2023 to £1.84 million in February 2025, and share premium from £1.75 million to £2.26 million. Net assets fell to £420,231. Accounts for the six months to August 2025 are due by 24 November 2026.

The accounts

Cash and net assets at each February year end

Levistor files abridged accounts without a profit and loss account. Cash fell in each of the last two years.

Companies House, Levistor Ltd 13216670. Values in £ thousands.

What Cannot Be Checked

Questions for the EIC

Whether Levistor signed a grant agreement, how much was paid and by whom, what the National Highways trial showed and whether any customer has bought a flywheel are not public.

Why Europe Should Care

Motorway service operators such as Moto have asked the UK government to make grid access along all 2,300 miles of motorway a national priority, Renewable Energy Magazine reported. Storage that bridges the gap could let fast chargers open sooner. The EIC selected Levistor's answer, but the company now pitches it mostly elsewhere.

What the award promised

A flywheel grid boost for ultra-rapid EV charging.

What the record shows

A motorway trial with no published results, a broader industrial pitch, thin cash and no EU project record.

The Verdict

Trial announced, then repositioned

Levistor announced a trial of the EV charging use the EIC selected, then widened its pitch to industry. What the EU award funded cannot be traced.

Levistor and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.

Industry

EnergyEnergy storage

Focus
  • Mechanical storage
Technologies
  • Magnetic levitation
  • Power electronics
Keywords
  • EV fast charging
  • Peak shaving
  • Data centres
  • Rail braking energy
  • Flywheels