UK set to win battle for electric Jaguar Land Rover battery plant

By James Woolcock and Ellen Milligan

The UK is set to secure a commitment from Tata Group to build a battery plant supplying a new range of electric Jaguar and Land Rover models.
 

Tata has chosen a site in Somerset, west England, owned by Salamanca Group, an investment and advisory business with roots in real estate, people familiar with the plans said. The Indian parent of the British brands will outline its decision as soon as this week, said the people, declining to be named discussing non-public information.

Tata previously considered building its battery site in Spain, but a decision in favor of the UK will help to secure the future of JLR’s plants in its traditional home market. The cell factory will have an eventual capacity of 40 gigawatt hours, enough to supply roughly half a million vehicles per year depending on the size of the batteries.

The decision marks a significant win for the government and auto industry, which has been struggling to compete with green-technology incentives in the US and European Union. The company at the center of a proposed battery factory in the north east of England, Britishvolt Ltd., fell into administration earlier this year.

It would also be an important political victory for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. European car manufacturers have been raising the alarm over upcoming tariffs on electric vehicles shipped between the UK and EU, warning that assembling cars in Britain may become too expensive after Brexit rules kick in. Attempts by UK officials to persuade Brussels to delay the deadline haven’t yet progressed, potentially threatening Britain’s car industry.

Meanwhile, Sunak’s Conservative Party risks losing three key parliamentary seats in a triple by-election vote on Thursday. One of those seats, Somerton and Frome, is just a 30 minute drive from where the JLR battery plant is due to be built.

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Tata’s battery-cell operation Agratas, which is building two factories — one in India and one in Europe — earlier this month posted job openings for UK-based battery factory jobs.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said they don’t comment on negotiations with private companies. A spokesperson for Salamanca declined to comment. A spokesperson for Tata Group declined to comment.