The Faraday Institution’s latest report on UK gigafactories finds that they could support 35,000 jobs by 2040, along with a further 65,000 in the supply chain. However, it warns that the UK is not moving quickly enough. It’s time to put words into action and build the manufacturing capacity needed to ensure that the UK not only catches up but becomes a world leader, says Richard Moore, Greenpower Park’s Battery Expert.
Also read: UK Auto makes one million vehicles and welcomes £23.7 billion investment boost
A Race Against Time to Lead in Battery Manufacturing
A question that used to be asked in every job interview was, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” The interviewee almost certainly had a detailed list of aspirations to reel off in response. If the same question were asked of the UK in relation to the number of UK gigafactories it will have after that same period of time, the answer would be much shorter and to the point: “not enough.”
That’s a massive problem, as the Faraday Institution’s UK electric vehicle and battery production potential to 2040 report makes very clear. The UK is rapidly falling behind in the global race to build strategically important assets essential to making transport more sustainable, reducing emissions, improving air quality, and delivering on net-zero commitments.
Learning from the Past: The Urgency to Act Now
With each gigafactory taking approximately five years to build, there’s no time to waste. A hard lesson learned from the past should guide the way forward: while the lithium-ion battery was invented in the UK, the strategic importance of manufacturing these in the UK was overlooked. This is why the country has just one operational gigafactory, which has a capacity of less than 2GWh. By 2030—when the UK aims to ban sales of combustion engine vehicles—the UK is expected to have only three gigafactories up and running.
That’s around half of what’s needed. Demand is expected to reach almost 110GWh a year in 2030, the equivalent of six large UK gigafactories operating at 90% capacity. This is far behind Europe’s 40 projected facilities by that time and more than 400 expected worldwide.
The Impact of Delayed Action on Battery Production
Even if we broke ground today, the additional sites needed in the UK would only be ramping up production volumes by the time the last petrol and diesel vehicles are driven out of showrooms. Many UK-manufactured EVs will rely on imported cells. Compounding the issue, from 2027, Rules of Origin regulations will require UK EVs to use cells made here or in Europe to avoid new tariffs on sales to Europe.
Beyond road transport, other sectors such as aviation and marine will require large volumes of cells for electrification. The UK must build a world-class battery industry and a robust, transparent, and sustainable supply chain to support it. Notably, while the UK is forecast to produce only 53% of the battery capacity it will need in 2030, this gap will grow by 2040, when it’s projected that the UK will meet only 29% of its demand, which will reach approximately 200GWh.
Establishing Greenpower Park: The UK’s Centre for Electrification
The shift from internal combustion engines to renewable-powered e-mobility is a paradigm shift, and the UK cannot afford to squander the opportunity to lead this transition. Greenpower Park, the UK’s Centre of Electrification and Clean Energy, is a trailblazing centre of excellence for electrification, battery technology, and manufacturing. With the West Midlands Gigafactory as its anchor tenant, it has unrivalled access to a highly skilled workforce.
Greenpower Park is the first all-in-one solution for battery research, industrialisation, manufacturing, testing, recycling, and electrified logistics, all designed to foster the UK’s growing battery ecosystem. Located in the country’s automotive skills heartland, it represents a unique collaboration among academia, industry, government, and international partners.
The Call for Immediate Action and Government Support
We believe Greenpower Park can play a pivotal role in addressing the projected battery cell demand. However, to accomplish this, immediate action is required. This includes creating incentive packages to attract investors and achieving goals within battery manufacturers' timelines and vehicle manufacturers’ development cycles.
Greenpower Park has received Investment Zone Status, which offers incentives for investors, including Stamp Duty Land Tax Relief, 100% Business Rate Relief on newly occupied premises, 100% first-year Capital Allowances for plant and machinery, and other support for supply chain and skills development. We believe that with £2.5bn in inward investment, we can build our state-of-the-art UK gigafactory and create 6,000 highly skilled jobs.
We’re encouraged by the UK government’s recent pledge to invest in industry via the National Wealth Fund and reward companies that build domestic manufacturing supply chains. We urge the Prime Minister to deliver on these promises to help Greenpower Park play its part in full.
Securing the Future of UK Gigafactories and Clean Energy Production
The UK has always been a leader in developing cutting-edge technologies, but it hasn’t always succeeded in mass production. With battery cells and gigafactories, there is an unprecedented opportunity to change this. Five years from now, we want the UK to be a globally competitive supplier of battery cells, ensuring the clean energy supply chain for the future—not asking why we allowed ourselves to fall further behind in the global race to build UK gigafactories.
