Tata Motors, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, has requested 566 million euros in financial assistance from the British government to build a battery factory. According to the Financial Times, the Indian carmaker has given British ministers a few weeks to commit financially to the project. Tata Motors is considering a partnership with Chinese battery giant Envision to build the plant in Somerset, southwest England. If the aid is not granted, Tata Motors may choose Spain as a location for the plant.
The British automotive sector suffers a new shock
If Tata Motors decides to build its plant outside the UK, it will be another blow to the UK automotive sector and the government, following the bankruptcy of Britishvolt in January 2023. Britishvolt was intended to build a large battery factory for electric cars, which would have enabled the British government to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The company’s failure was highly publicized in the UK and led to criticism of the government. The company was eventually bought by an Australian company, but only about 20 of the 300 employees of Britishvolt before the bankruptcy filing kept their jobs.
Jaguar Land Rover’s ambitions in electric vehicles
Jaguar Land Rover has announced that it wants to go all-electric starting in 2025, but today has only one electric car model, the I-Pace. The next model in the lineup and Land Rover’s first all-electric model will not be unveiled until 2024. Building the battery plant in the UK would allow Tata Motors to meet the growing demand for electric cars and expand Jaguar Land Rover’s ambitions in this area.
Contacted by AFP, the branch of Tata Motors in the United Kingdom did not wish to comment. For its part, the British government has not yet responded to Tata Motors’ request for financial assistance.
