The UK’s West Midlands Gigafactory joint venture has confirmed that it is in advanced discussions with several leading Asian battery manufacturers about future investment at the Coventry site.

The JV is a partnership between Coventry City Council and Coventry Airport.

Details of the Asian firms have not been released. 

Speaking at the Labour Party Conference earlier this week, Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change at Coventry City Council, said: “I’m pleased to report that we are now in advanced discussions with leading Asian battery manufacturers who want to develop a presence in the UK.

"We hope, with the support of the UK Government, that we will secure an investor and further strengthen our region’s leadership credentials in the shift towards electrification.”

The West Midlands Gigafactory’s Coventry location is the only available site in the UK with planning permission in place for a large-scale battery production facility with capacity for up to 60GWh per annum, enough to power 600,000 EVs. The project will inject £2.5 billion investment into the region, the JV says.