Tata Group Hints at UK Battery Plant Plans as It Posts Job Ads

Tata Group has posted job openings for a UK-based cell developer and construction project manager, suggesting the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover is preparing to locate its new battery factory in Britain.

(Bloomberg) — Tata Group has posted job openings for a UK-based cell developer and construction project manager, suggesting the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover is preparing to locate its new battery factory in Britain.

The job advertisements, posted on LinkedIn, are for Tata’s battery-cell operation Agratas, which is building two factories — one in India and one in Europe.

The ads didn’t say whether the factory would be in the UK, only that the positions would be based in Coventry, where Jaguar Land Rover currently produces cars. A decision in favor of the UK would secure the future of JLR’s plants in the country, following an intense competition with Spanish authorities. The plant will have an eventual capacity of 40 gigawatt hours.

A UK factory would mark a significant win for government and auto industry, which has been struggling to compete with European Union and US incentives for green-technology investments such as battery sites. The UK’s earlier cellmaking hopeful Britishvolt Ltd. this year fell into administration.

Read more: Jaguar Owner Leans Toward UK Over Spain for Battery Plant

The plant is set to make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover’s planned range of fully electric models that are due from 2024.

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