Largest UK battery gigafactory announced

22 October 2021 | David Young

The site in Coventry will create up to 6,000 highly skilled jobs directly as well as thousands more

Largest battery UK gigafactory announced

West Midlands Gigafactory, a public private joint venture between Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport, will begin supplying high-tech batteries for electric vehicles from 2025, following an investment of a £2.5bn.

It will be the size of 74 full-size football pitches with a capacity to deliver up to 60GWh of production per year.

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."

The site will be based at Coventry Airport, adjacent to the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre.