Eve Energy, a Chinese battery cell manufacturer and BMW partner, is reportedly in talks to establish a factory at Coventry Airport, according to British media. The company is looking to initially invest around Ā£1.2 billion for a factory with 20 GWh of annual capacity, with plans to later expand it to 60 GWh.
If realized, the Coventry plant would likely become the largest battery factory in the UK upon completion. For comparison, the AESC factory under construction in Sunderland is designed for a maximum of 35 GWh, and the announced Tata project in Somerset is planned for 40 GWh.
The project has the potential to create up to 6,000 jobs, but is reportedly dependent on subsidies totaling several hundred million pounds. Talks are said to be at an advanced stage, indicating agreement in principle while final subsidy amounts and conditions are being negotiated.
Eve Energy’s first European plant, currently under construction in Hungary to supply BMW, is focused on building large-volume round cells for BMW’s New Class, with a capacity of up to 28 GWh per year. Additionally, the company recently entered into a production agreement with StoreDot, securing part of Eve’s production capacity for StoreDot’s extremely fast-charging battery cells.
Plans for a 60 GWh factory in Coventry are not entirely new, as the British joint venture West Midlands Gigafactory had previously presented similar plans for a cell factory in Coventry in 2021, aiming to start production in 2025. However, this project has not yet materialized. Following the insolvency of Britishvolt last year, the British battery industry appears to be heavily reliant on foreign partners.
The West Midlands, historically the heart of the British car industry, is home to major automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin Lagonda, and BMW. It also hosts the UK’s largest battery research centre, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre.
