Plans for £1bn battery gigafactory and over 1,000 new jobs revealed
Plans to create a £1bn 10GWh battery gigafactory in Coventry which will create over 1,000 jobs by 2030 have been revealed.
Volklec, a battery manufacturing start-up which set up shop in the West Midlands city last year, has entered into an exclusive license agreement with China-based Far East Battery (FEB).
The deal will see Volklec manufacture advanced lithium-ion batteries later this year from its base at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC).
That will then provide a base for the company to then work on plans for its gigafactory.
‘Urgent need to secure battery supply chain in the UK’
Volklec executive director Phil Popham, who is a former chief executive of Lotus Cars, said: “There is an urgent need for new independent manufacturers to secure the battery supply chain in the UK.
“There is no greater transformation today than the electric revolution in transport and mobility, and the British start-up scene is thriving, from motorsport to heavy duty off-highway and most things in between. But there is a substantial gap in the supply chain.
“The UK is particularly strong in the specialist and high-performance sectors which need surety of supply with quality and reliability. Our mission is to help these innovators thrive.”
Volklec is led by chief executive and founder Imran Khatri who owns the largest single stake in the company.
Two other family members also own a significant number of shares while Kenya Matsumoto, the owner and CEO of Frontive Group, also has a large stake.
FEB is not the first Chinese company to take an interest in an electrification business based in Coventry.
Chinese automotive giant Geely is the owner of electric taxi maker LEVC, which is also known as London EV Company. Geely also owns Volvo and Lotus.
Last year, City PM reported that LEVC was attempting to boost its net worth by £100m to combat the falling number of taxi drivers in central London and the expected further decline in its sales in 2024.
The business was in the process of increasing the value of everything a company owns minus all its debts after losing more than £100m during 2023.
At the time, LEVC said its sales were being impacted by the gradual decline in the number of taxi drivers in central London.