Coventry City Council partners with a local airport to develop plans for a major battery Gigafactory to start production by 2025.
The local authority has confirmed its partnership with Coventry Airport to develop plans for the electric car battery facility, to be located within the Airport’s land. The West Midlands Combined Authority has officially named Coventry Airport as the preferred site for the region’s first Gigafactory.
Whilst planning documents are yet to be published, Coventry City Council has forecasted the creation of 4,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly, as well as the attraction of up to £2 billion of investment.
Forecasts are based on the fact that the West Midlands host major automotive firms such as Aston Martin Lagona, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and LEVC, which will shift to EVs according to the government’s ban on the sales new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 onwards.
Earlier this week on Monday, Jaguar Land Rover, who are the largest UK car industry employer, announced it would switch its Jaguar brand to pure electric technology by 2025. This means the company will require hundreds of thousands of lithium-ion batteries a year.
‘If there might be one day a battery plant or several plants, why not in the UK? It would make a lot of sense in terms of supply chain to be close by any battery plant,’ Thierry Bolloré, JLR chief executive, said.
Coventry City Council expect the Gigafactory to begin operations in 2025, should the planning process run according to schedule, and Government funding is secured.
‘By announcing the site now and driving forward with a planning application and a joint venture, we are showing how united and serious the region is about making this happen,’ West Midlands Mayor Andy Street commented.
‘The next step is to submit the case to Government to win the funding required, and discussions are already well underway with the UK’s leading carmakers and battery suppliers across the globe to put together the strongest bid possible. I will not rest until the West Midlands has the Gigafactory it needs.’
