How electric vehicle batteries could save the UK auto industry

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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is expected to build a multi-billion-pound electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the UK rather than Spain – welcome news for British car makers.

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Provider:

The Conversation

URL:

https://theconversation.com/how-electric-vehicle-batteries-could-save-the-uk-auto-industry-206420

Retrieved on:

Saturday, May 27, 2023

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Geotags:

CHINA, VAUXHALL, US, GERMANY, SPAIN, JAPAN, UK

Summary

Key Points:

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is expected to build a multi-billion-pound electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the UK rather than Spain – welcome news for British car makers.
After decades of decline, this could help turn Britain into a base for battery production, saving its ailing auto sector.
This dictates the duty levied on a product based on where it was made, which could add tariffs on UK cars with Asia-made batteries.
It’s unlikely that one new battery plant alone will save the UK auto industry, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
But it’s become harder to make the business case for UK auto manufacturing as the realities of Brexit have set in.

British-made batteries

The shift from petrol and diesel engines to batteries is possibly one of the biggest opportunities for the UK to protect what’s left of its auto industry.
The batteries used to power EVs are large, expensive and difficult to transport because regulators often class them as hazardous materials making transportation subject to strict regulations.
It currently only has the capacity to make enough batteries for 40,000 cars a year.

The road ahead

But it seems the UK government hopes to catch up, with the help of the largest “British” car manufacturer JLR (actually owned by Indian group Tata).
This is why JLR’s plan to build the largest battery plant in the UK is very welcome news for UK auto manufacturing.
This could build on the blueprint British car manufacturing already designed with Japanese automakers in the 1980s.