Bentley CEO reveals they're moving to electric cars
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Last month, it was announced that Britishvolt is set to benefit from a £100million investment from the Government as they seek to build Britain’s first large-scale “gigafactory”. The new electric car battery factory will be built near Blyth, in Northumberland, and is one of two major UK battery manufacturing projects. The electric battery start-up also secured £1.7billionn from Tritax Group, a real estate investor, alongside the fund manager abrdn.
Britishvolt expects to be able to start construction in April, on the site of a former power plant’s coal store.
The start-up is expected to have a significant impact on the UK’s electric vehicle industry, as the presence of a battery manufacturer would incentivise EV producers to manufacture their vehicles here.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Graham Hoare, the President of BritishVolt, spoke about the incredible impact the gigafactory would have on the North East’s economy, along with the UK.
He said: “The Gigafactory is a significant investment in the North East, it’s about £4billion of investment.
“It’s going to produce sustainable, customised or tailored cells that better what customers of the future are going to require from their cars.
“Those cells are primarily targeting two sectors. Sports car sector and the commercial vehicle sector.
“The investment in the North East will generate about 3,000 direct jobs and a total of 8,000 across the country, and that’s in addition to the activities in the recycling part of the business.”
He also claimed that the gigafactory is set to be the fourth-largest building in the UK and the 16th largest in Europe overall.
Experts have previously stressed the importance of developing electric battery production capabilities in the UK.
They warned that Britain will need to develop its battery manufacturing capabilities to prevent car manufacturers from leaving the UK as diesel and petrol cars are phased out.
In a new report titled ‘The Benefits of Brexit: How the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU’, the Government laid out its plan for using “Rules of Origin” clauses in their trade agreements to turn the UK into an EV manufacturing hub.
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It said: “To maintain a globally competitive industry and secure our position as one of the highest productivity major producers in Europe we aim to: increase the overall production of vehicles by the end of this Parliament with fully electric vehicles making up the majority of new growth.”
Its plans also included securing “significant Original Equipment Manufacturer’s investment opportunities” and building a “globally competitive UK Electric Vehicle supply chain.”
The Government also promised to “grow the UK’s world-leading research and development ecosystem, including by securing the UK’s first giga-factories and growing or attracting investments in other strategically important areas”.
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