I think that we are in danger of loosing JLR and the remaining Car Factories from Britain, if we don't put some Government money into building a very big Car Battery Facility.

I read today that £2bn has been found for smallish 'pet' projects around the country.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the money would create jobs and "spread opportunity".

The new Eden Project site in Morecambe, train services in Cornwall and a number of town centres are among the projects set to get funding.

But Labour said it was "a partial refund" on what the Tories "have stripped out of our communities".

It also said London and the South East were getting the most funding - though these are the two regions with the largest populations.

Why haven't they taken the opportunity to go positive on battery technology and buy the British Megavolt site, and go in to a proper partnership with a KNOWN and PROVEN battery maker, and get us a factory before it's too late.

It seems that since Brexit we are falling further and further behind the EU who already have many Battery Factories going or being built. Will the next and all future Land Rovers be built on the continent or further afield. [/i] FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

If the future is battery manufacturing then how come British volt cannot get private finance. They struggled to turn a profit and I guess the money ran out. Should we the tax payers support it?
Should we do so then no doubt folk would be saying in a year or 2 how come we have wasted £billions. As sure as eggs are eggs if it were perceived to be a viable proposition buyer's would be queuing at the administrator's door. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

There was a big article about British Volt in the Financial Times a few weeks ago saying that it was a basket case. They hadn't decided on a battery chemistry and they only had expressions of interest from Aston Martin and Lotus (so really big volumes) and a vague agreement to talk about batteries with JLR. It was burning though cash at a high rate on salaries.
Incidentally my son recently got awarded his PhD (in geology) and was talking to three PhD chemists at the ceremony all of whom had been working on different battery chemistries. One had already been offered a job with JLR. Apparently the view was that it was a nightmare for battery makers as they could easily back the wrong chemistry whilst the car manufacturers would just go with the current best bet. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Supposedly the company were asked to meet targets but were nowhere near to any of them. Not sure if this was down to their own hopes and aims being unrealistic or the governments being simply unobtainable?

I believe Dyson is committing £billions into innovative battery technology. He abandoned the manufacture of EV'S at Hullavington Wilts in favour of developing solid state (?)batteries. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

tenet wrote:

If the future is battery manufacturing then how come British volt cannot get private finance. They struggled to turn a profit and I guess the money ran out. Should we the tax payers support it?
Should we do so then no doubt folk would be saying in a year or 2 how come we have wasted £billions. As sure as eggs are eggs if it were perceived to be a viable proposition buyer's would be queuing at the administrator's door.

Interesting article on the demise of the company.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-collapse-of-britishvolt

I note that the UK government invested £100 million which is presumably lost.
Outwith the why's and wherefores of its demise I do agree with your sentiment that we need to build more. The current government need to attract business rather than raising taxes on business which just drives entrepreneurs into the welcoming arms if our competitors. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

As far as I know the money was never advanced to BritishVolt.

So it is still there if JLR want to partner a known battery maker, and apply.

Last year, Britishvolt asked the government to advance £30m of a promised £100m in support, but was refused as the company had not hit agreed construction milestones to access the funds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303149 FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

Thankfully UK Inc didn't invest (according to your link)otherwise it would probably lost the lot. The organisation seemed to be acting in a very cavalier manner with private jets and 6 star accomodation. It reminded me of the DeLorean fiasco of the 80s. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

It appears UK National & local Gov has a history of projects not fulfilling their goals - glad they didn't chuck our money into this unwise investment.

Edited following doubts about source info Jules

My own experience of the NHS's NPfIT was disappointing to say the least - starting with laudable goals it was in retrospect overly ambitious and was eventually cancelled - estimated top have cost the tax payer £10billion a decade ago.

https://www.henricodolfing.com/2019/01/cas...aster.html
with case study ref at the end. Jules

We've had a lucky escape here in Wales - Britishvolt were looking at a site in South Wales, close to Cardiff Airport - luckily they decided to go elsewhere - no doubt the Welsh Assembly would have thrown millions of pounds their way to secure a presence.
The assembly already wasted millions on groundworks for the failed Ineos Grenadier assembly plant which was meant to be coming to Bridgend.

I do a fair bit of investing and have looked at the battery market. The general view is that investing in batteries is quite high risk as new chemistries will come and go for a few years until it settles down. It's a bit like biotec in some respects and how do you pick a winner? For big storage systems on the National Grid it doesn't matter what the weight and power density will be but for automotive use it's going to be all about storage density and weight ie kWh/kg and for the first few years there will always be a better battery coming down the tracks. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE