JLR picks Somerset for multi-billion £ battery plant

24th May 2023

The UK is set to win a major battery plant for electric vehicles as Tata Group, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, appears to have decided against Spain. The boss of Jaguar Land Rover-owner Tata is expected to fly to London next week to finalise the deal, the BBC reported.

The massive state-of-the-art factory would be located at the Gravity business park, a 635-acre "smart campus" currently under construction near the M5 motorway at Puriton. The proposed gigafactory could potentially be the largest single building in the UK, and the deal would be the most significant car deal in the UK since the 1980s, potentially creating up to 9,000 jobs.

A new "British Energy Supercharger" scheme is also thought to be part of the deal. The scheme, currently under consultation, would cut the energy bills of 300 energy intensive companies, such as those making steel and batteries.

The UK government offered incentives worth £500m to help Jaguar and Land Rover set up a new electric battery “giga-factory”.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference recently that "we need to have battery making capacity in the UK". Hunt said: "All I would say is, watch this space, because we are very focused on making sure the UK gets that EV manufacturing capacity."

Tata was considering another site in Spain and the expected decision to choose Somerset will be presented as a major achievement for the UK government. The decision by the Indian bluechip company would give a boost to the British car industry coming days after major automakers including Vauxhall owner Stellantis and Ford warned that looming post-Brexit trade rules risked making it unviable.

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