US Edition
Chinese battery manufacturer EVE Energy is planning to build a gigafactory in the West Midlands as Britain races to expand its electric car industry.
Sources close to the talks said there has been “real interest from the company” in investing in the project on a site next to Coventry’s airport.
The business, which already has operations in Germany and the US, is set to become a major player in a new Centre of Electrification, a local authority-backed bid to boost the West Midlands’ future manufacturing capabilities as well as the nation’s net zero ambitions.
EVE Energy’s potential investment was first reported by the Sunday Times. The project will include an initial £1.2bn of investment with further waves of expansion taking the factory to twice the size of Nissan’s battery site in Sunderland, it reported. It will directly create 6,000 jobs.
A Government spokesman said: “We are determined to ensure the UK remains one of the best locations in the world for automotive manufacturing as we transition to electric vehicles, while ensuring taxpayer money is used responsibly and provides best-value.
“We do not comment on speculation or the commercial affairs of private companies.”
The potential investment comes at a sensitive time for the car industry across much of the world as established companies and manufacturing centres have struggled with the move towards electric vehicles and shifting demands from governments.
Plans to build a heavily subsidised gigafactory in the Northumberland town of Blyth collapsed last year as Britishvolt, the business behind the £3.8bn scheme, fell into administration.
Earlier this month Recharge Industries UK, the business that promised to buy Britishvolt, was hit with a winding up petition as creditors seek unpaid wages and other monies owed.
In better news, Tata, which owns Jaguar-Land Rover, last month confirmed it is to invest £4bn to construct a gigafactory near Bridgwater in Somerset.
Britain lost out to Germany in the battle to secure Tesla’s European gigafactory. But the site, which delivered its first cars two years ago, has faced stiff opposition from protestors seeking to block any expansion of the facility and was temporarily taken offline earlier this month by an arson attack.
The British Government has announced a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engines from 2035, a date which was delayed from an initial cutoff point of 2030.