Government in talks with six EV battery makers

Author: EIS Release Date: Jun 23, 2021

The government is in talks with Samsung, Ford, Nissan, LG, Britishvolt and InoBat Auto about setting up factories to make EV batteries, reports the FT.

 

The Brexit trade deal makes it essential for the UK to invest in EV battery production, according to Andy Palmer, who is vice chairman of InoBat and was formerly CEO of Aston Martin and COO of Nissan Motor.

 

“The ‘kicker’ in the Brexit agreement for the automotive industry is clearly the new rules of origin transition agreement, with most batteries and their materials today sourced exclusively from China, Korea or Japan,” said Palmer recently, “the UK now has its work cut out to reach at least 50% locally/EU sourced materials by 2024 or face 10% tariffs.”

InoBat aims to supply ‘intelligent’ electric vehicle batteries to Europe in 2021, and upscale to a 10GWh Gigafactory in 2025.

 

So far, there are 38 planned gigafactories across Europe, says the Transport & Environment lobby group.

 

With new ICE cars prohibited from 2030, the government needs to have large-scale UK EV battery production.