Apparently determined to turn Coventry Airport into a car battery gigafactory, despite having received no interest to date from the automotive industry, Coventry City Council has announced that it is spending an additional £500,000 on promoting the site.
According to a report by the BBC, the public money would be spent on work to attract an investor for the site. The authority has already spent £1.75m on the project and plans to use this additional funding for surveying work and ground investigations, as well as commissioning specialist battery and power supply services.
The funding, which was confirmed on 05 July, will be matched by Coventry Airport Ltd.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle told the BCC: “Without taking urgent action the UK could end up falling behind in the race to develop batteries at scale. As the heart of the UK automotive sector, Coventry and the West Midlands must be at the very centre of the electrification strategy.”
The site at Coventry Airport was the only proposed location for a gigafactory in the UK which was ready for investment, with planning consent, according to O’Boyle.
The gigafactory will also need government support, but the BBC adds that senior members of the Conservative government have repeatedly failed to offer unambiguous support to the plans when asked publicly.
