According to a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event in London Tesla will “strongly consider” building its next gigafactory in England.

As countries across the EU, Europe and indeed the world scramble to attract battery building capacity, the announcement is almost certainly the start of a bidding war for government grants. It has also been reported that Musk has said almost the same thing to France.

Jaguar Land Rover are reported to be on the cusp of deciding to build in the UK, amid reports that Spain has been urged to try and outbid the UK for the privilege of having the plant on their soil.

Startup Britishvolt began construction of a gigafactory in 2021, but work was halted in August 2022 due to government funding being withheld as the project was not meeting agreed milestones. It is now owned by Australian startup, Recharge Industries.

The UK currently has no productive factories but could have three. EVs made with UK batteries would face an addition cost if being exported to the EU, but as the US, EU and UK are all currently introducing regulations and subsidies triggered by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act such tariffs remain uncertain, and at odds with EC President Ursula von der Leyen’s recent comments that nations should collaborate rather than compete to enable a faster transition to a net-zero world.

Share Story: