JLR’s parent company Tata Group will reportedly announce plans Wednesday to develop an electric vehicle battery factory in the United Kingdom, sources familiar with the claims.
The Indian automaker will apparently receive substantial financial support from the government of £500m, potentially stimulating the British EV industry.
Remarkably, some people in the industry recognize the new plant as the most significant investment in the UK automotive since Nissan’s arrival in the 1980s.
Tata chooses the UK over Spain
Tata Motors has been facing difficulty in selecting the final location of its new EV battery factory, with the top two candidates: Somerset, southwest England, and Spain.
Now, the Indian automaker seems to have finally decided to pursue the UK battery manufacturing industry.
Reports suggest that Tata aims to have an annual production capacity of 40-gigawatt hours (GWh) at the speculated UK battery factory. It is sufficient to support hundreds of thousands of EVs. Apart from that, it will also generate thousands of job positions in the country.
Unfortunately, neither the government nor the automaker confirmed these recent reports emerging about the potential Somerset factory.
The significant investment will undoubtedly be a major success for the UK, which still lags in local battery production compared to other nations.
Government efforts
The UK government reportedly voiced worries regarding the US’ Inflation Reduction Act that offers large sums of incentives to clean industries. UK’s Finance Minister admitted they do not have the same resources for similar programs.
Nonetheless, local battery production will aid local automakers in adhering to post-Brexit trade rules. For context, it mandates them to domestically source more EV parts to evade tax duties on UK-EU trade from 2024.
In that sense, the government stated earlier that it was negotiating with the European Union to alleviate those stringent rules. Before that, automotive giant Stellantis warned the EU that it would have no choice but to close its factories if required to pay those tariffs, potentially losing thousands of jobs.
To demonstrate support for local battery production projects, the UK government will reportedly offer Tata hundreds of millions of pounds for the factory.
“The decision by JLR to invest in battery production in the UK is very welcome. We will want to reflect, however, on the subsidy package that was required to secure this decision.”
Darren Jones, Chair of Parliament’s Business Committee
See Also:
- Tata Group partners with local government for a $1.6 billion EV battery factory
- UK to beat Spain in securing Tata’s EV battery factory investment
- Tata Tiago EV hits the 10,000-unit mark in just four months since January 2023
- Tata-backed Stryder introduces the Zeeta electric bicycle
- Tata Harrier Electric is officially launching this coming 2024
The project will indeed mark a major development for the British electric vehicle industry. It will support the manufacturing of hundreds of thousands of EVs, generating numerous jobs in the process.
Moreover, it aligns with post-Brexit trade rules that favor domestic sourcing of EV parts, potentially avoiding the stringent tariff standards.
