Autocar understands the site will be known as Agratas South West, but it remains unclear whether that holds any implications for future Agratas facilities in other parts of the country.
The factory, which will create 4000 jobs, will initially make batteries for Tata Motors and JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) – brands that sit under the Tata Group umbrella – before later expanding to produce cells for different applications, such as commercial vehicles, two-wheelers and energy storage solutions.
Tata is looking locally to fill the 4000 jobs needed for its new gigafactory. There will also be thousands more created within the supply chain, it predicts, especially as a host of support businesses and technology companies will need to set up shop nearby.
Cells made at the factory will be in the rectangular prismatic format, rather than the cylindrical shape preferred by BMW and Tesla, and Tata has already said that the cell chemistry can be adapted and changed as new advancements are made.
Tata’s vote of confidence in the UK brings reassurance after a long period of uncertainty around the British industry’s preparedness for the EV era
However, questions still remain over whether the country will be able to build enough batteries to sustain competitive levels of EV production.
The Faraday Institute forecasts that the UK will need 100GWh of capacity by 2030, rising to 200GWh by 2040. But in addition to Tata’s 40GWh Somerset site, only Nissan supplier Envision has concrete plans to ramp up UK battery production, eventually taking its battery factory in Sunderland to an output of 38GWh.
Tata’s Bridgwater site will be the biggest battery factory in Europe. LG is the only firm with plans to eclipse it over time, targeting a 70GWh expansion at its plant in Poland, which supplies packs to Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Renault and Volvo.
