Lotus has struck a deal with a pioneering British battery manufacturer to build its first electric car in the UK.
Britishvolt, which is setting up a gigafactory in Northumberland, will design and tailor-make the batteries used in the car maker’s luxury vehicle.
The collaboration is the latest in a series of recent announcements that have boosted Britain’s car industry.
Battery deal: Britishvolt, which is setting up a gigafactory in Northumberland, will design and tailor-make the batteries used in Lotus’ first electric vehicle
This week Bentley pledged to plough £2.5billion into its plant in Crewe to build electric vehicles.
And it comes days after Britishvolt clinched £100million in Government funding and another £1.7billion from major companies Abrdn and Tritax to set up its Northumberland plant.
Nissan has also made a major commitment to its factory in Sunderland. Lotus, which previously had its own Formula One team, is owned by China’s Geely and Malaysian conglomerate Etika Automotive.
But it is based in Hethel in Norfolk, where it has a 2.2-mile test track.
Car makers are racing to build electric replacements to their petrol and diesel vehicles, which will be outlawed in the UK in 2030.
Britishvolt is building a £3.8billion gigafactory that will make enough cells every year for more than 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs.
It is due to open in 2024 and will be the fourth-biggest building in the UK.
Oliver Jones, chief commercial officer at Britishvolt, said the agreement ‘demonstrates that the legacy one-size-fits-all cell strategy is no longer valid’ in the rapidly scaling electric car market.
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