Keir Starmer’s Labour Party announced plans to help finance eight new battery plants with £2 billion ($2.4 billion) of public money if the UK opposition wins the next general election.
(Bloomberg) — Keir Starmer’s Labour Party announced plans to help finance eight new battery plants with £2 billion ($2.4 billion) of public money if the UK opposition wins the next general election.
Labour said its strategy to part-finance the new so-called gigafactories will help power nearly 2 million cars and support £30 billion in economic growth. The announcement comes two months after EV battery supplier Britishvolt Ltd. — which had planned an enormous £3.8 billion plant in northern England — went into administration.
Britishvolt Failure Adds to UK Car Sector’s Existential Dread
The opposition policy adds to pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government to set out how it will support the UK’s electric car industry, especially as it pushes to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. President Joe Biden’s massive package of subsidies and tax credits to support green industries including electric vehicles threatens to suck investment to the US, and the European Union is preparing measures to support its own industries in response.
Ministers are “losing the race to build the electric vehicle revolution here in Britain,” Labour’s shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, said late Wednesday in a statement, promising to “turbocharge” the industry.
“We will invest in eight new battery plants, and lower sky-high electric costs hampering British industry with our plans for zero-carbon power,” Haigh said. “And we will accelerate the roll-out of charging points, to give motorists confidence to make the switch.”
Last week, the Financial Times reported that Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors is demanding more than £500 million of government aid for a new battery factory in the UK and is close to choosing between Spain and England for the plant.
Labour warned the UK is on track to have less than a 10th of the battery capacity of Germany by 2025, and one-30th that of the US.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.