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Government to provide £100m in funding for EV battery production

28 February 2022

The Government has committed to provide £100million in funding to Britishvolt, which is on track to deliver a 30GWh battery Gigaplant, positioned on the ‘best site in the UK’ in Cambois, Northumberland.

This is in addition to £1.7bn in private funding which Britishvolt has secured from Tritax and Abrdn. 

Britishvolt's Executive Chairman Peter Rolton said the first batteries will roll off the production line in 2024 – at which point, the factory will produce enough batteries for over 300,000 electric vehicles each year. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said that this will ‘significantly support’ the UK automotive industry’s transition to a ‘zero emissions future’. 

The plant is set to create 3,000 direct highly-skilled jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain. Peter Rolton told the BBC's Today programme that he would like these jobs to go to local and confirmed that Britishvolt is setting up a training centre in nearby Ashington. He said, "our policy is going to be to try and not to say no to anybody”.

Peter Rolton continued,"This announcement is a major step in putting the UK at the forefront of the global energy transition, unlocking huge private sector investment that will develop the technology and skills required for Britain to play its part in the next industrial revolution.

"This is a truly historic day and marks the start of a truly exciting move towards a low carbon future."

The Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders’ Chief Executive Mike Hawes said, “Homegrown battery gigafactories are essential if Britain is to be internationally competitive as an EV manufacturing nation. [This] announcement of Government support and investment is important, not just for the project itself but in the creation of a world-class EV production supply chain in the UK. Given the potential to create thousands of highly skilled jobs, both directly and indirectly, it is a significant step ensuring the UK can play a leading role in the global shift to zero-emission motoring”.

We at Marshall Leasing are always interested in the latest advances in electric vehicle production and progress towards meeting the 2030 deadline for electrification. We trust that you find this information interesting. 

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