JLR owner Tata Motors is likely to be choosing the UK over Spain for a multi-million dollar EV battery plant, according to sources near the BBC.
The factory site, which is to be at Bridgewater, Somerset, UK, would employ 9,000 people. The deal is not yet done but has moved from negotiations to drafting and choreography of how the agreement will be presented. The boss of Tata is expected to fly to London next week to finalise the deal.
A decision to pick the UK over Spain would be a major achievement for the UK government, especially after Stellantis and Ford last week warned that post-Brexit trade deals – due to come into force in 2024 – will make things very difficult to run their factories, and they risk closure.
The UK has fallen behind many other countries in attracting investment and the building of car battery plants has clearly suffered. Whilst the EU has 35 facilities open, under construction or planned, the UK has one in Sunderland and one in planning in Northumberland.
The UK government says it acknowledges the importance of EV battery manufacturing near car manufacturing plants.
The government, whilst not giving away details, has admitted the Tata deal has not been easily won, and subsidies of cash grants, energy subsidies and other training and research funding fall into hundreds of millions of pounds. Tata has extensive steel interests in the UK and the government will also offer subsidies to upgrade and decarbonise those facilities.
