Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly looking at UK sites outside the Midlands to build its own car battery factory in a move which could threaten plans for a Coventry gigafactory.

 

Plans were put forward for a huge facility at Coventry Airport last year and although Jaguar Land Rover is not directly involved it was generally assumed it would be the main customer for the batteries built there.

 

But according to a report in The Telegraph, Jaguar Land Rover is looking at the prospect of building a car battery factory in one of two UK locations. It is set to choose between the Gravity business park under construction in Somerset and another site in Redcar, Teesside, BirminghamLive reports.

 

The Telegraph said Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company, was pushing government ministers to provide financial incentives to invest in the UK. The also claimed Tata has threatened to shift EV battery production to Slovakia – but Jaguar Land Rover said this was “totally inaccurate”.

 

There has been speculation recently that the car maker could put its factory in Slovakia at the heart of its electric car manufacturing. The speculation has centred around the fact Jaguar Land Rover has reportedly been in talks with Swedish cell maker Northvolt and the German-based arm of Chinese firm SVolt Energy about the possibility of supplying batteries for electric vehicles.

 

Plans for the gigafactory on the site of Coventry Airport were put forward by the airport’s owners the Rigby Group and Coventry City Council. Outline permission for the ambitious project was granted but it has yet to attract an investor.

 

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