Britishvolt had several meetings with the government before collapsing in January after being unable to access a promised £100mln public grant.
The company, which was planning to build a factory to make electric vehicle car batteries, held meetings with former business secretaries Jacob Rees-Mogg and Grant Shapps in October and December at the Department for Business and Trade, according to the BBC.
Although the government had committed £100mln for Britishvolt’s prospective £3.8bn electric vehicle (EV) battery in Northumberland, the company failed in January after it was unable to access a £30mln advance on the funds.
Details of discussions from the meetings were not revealed by the government after a BBC freedom of information request due to “commercially sensitive information”.
Analysts dubbed the collapse a “major setback” for the British EV sector, which has struggled to compete internationally amid huge public subsidies offered in the US and EU.
Britishvolt has since been bought out of administration by Australian firm Recharge Industries, reviving plans for the factory, with these now encompassing batteries for energy storage by 2025 and high-performance car power units later.