West Midlands Gigafactory set to produce batteries for 600,000 electric cars a year

A West Midlands Gigafactory is planned for Coventry Airport, able to produce enough batteries for 600,000 electric cars a year.

As we roll inexorably in to a future of electric cars, it’s clear the UK needs to be building its own batteries rather than be reliant on overseas suppliers, and one plan – well underway – is a West Midlands Gigafactory built on the site of Coventry Airport.

The development is a JV between Coventry Airport and Coventry City Council, although it seems to be still seeking the cooperation of a battery manufacturer to make the plans real.

Assuming that’s sorted, it will mean an investment of £2.5 billion creating 6,000 jobs directly and thousands more in the supply chain, and delivering 60GWh of production – that’s enough for batteries for 600,000 electric cars – each year.

The site, which is currently Coventry Airport, will be half a million square meters in size – that’s 74 full-size football pitches – and be one of the largest single industrial facilities in the UK, and is set to be in production by 2025.

It will be powered by a big boost to the local energy network giving the Gigafactory access to 100 per cent renewable energy, and it will also recycle used batteries too.

Mike Murray, West Midlands Gigafactory Project Director, said:

The West Midlands Gigafactory has a singular mission to create a state-of-the-art battery gigafactory in the heart of the UK automotive industry. It will provide a huge cash investment in the area, leading to thousands of well-paid jobs and creating crucial new skills for this country.”

“The Coventry Airport site is perfectly located to do just that, being ideally positioned to supply the UK’s leading automotive manufacturers who need access to world-class batteries on their doorsteps. We need to make these advanced lithium-ion batteries where we make cars and there is no better place than in the West Midlands.