EVE Energy, the world’s largest manufacturer of Tesla-like cylindrical car batteries, is understood to be in advanced negotiations to construct a 60 gigawatt-hour factory on the site of Coventry airport. If agreed the £1.2bn investment would make this factory the biggest in the UK.
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Subsequent phases of the works are expected to expand the site to 60GWh, which would make it almost twice the size of Nissan’s electric battery factory in Sunderland.
The West Midlands Gigafactory is planned to be the anchor tenant of a larger project called the UK Centre of Electrification, a joint venture between local councils and the owners of Coventry airport, where the works will be built.
The plant would create 6,000 jobs and thousands more in the supply chain in a region that exports an estimated £14 billion in cars and auto parts — almost double that of any other part of the UK.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands, is understood to have played a pivotal role in brokering conversations between the joint venture, EVE and the chancellor. Sealing a deal would be a major boon for the former boss of John Lewis, who will be standing for re-election in May.
