This may include adverts from us and 3 rd parties based on our understanding. The colossal site in Coventry will supply high-tech batteries for the budding electric vehicle industry while creating up to 6,000 jobs. The project covers an area of about 74 full-size football pitches and marks a joint venture between Coventry Airport Ltd and the Coventry County Council. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has backed the project, which he believes will secure the future of our region's automotive industry He said: The West Midlands is already home to the country s biggest car manufacturer, Europe s largest research centre of its kind, the UK s only battery industrialisation centre and a world-leading supply chain. A Gigafactory, therefore, is the next step for the UK automotive heartland and we will not rest until we have secured one, working in partnership with industry and Government. On top of bolstering the region's economy, the gigafactory will help the fight against climate change. At peak production, the 60 gigawatt-hours facility is expected to produce enough car batteries to power 600,000 zero-emissions cars each year.
Even more impressively, the site will be powered by 100 percent renewable electricity. Mike Murray, West Midlands Gigafactory Project Director, said: The West Midlands Gigafactory has a singular mission to create a state-of-the-art battery gigafactory in the heart of the UK automotive industry. It will provide a huge cash investment in the area, leading to thousands of new jobs and creating crucial skills for this country. The Coventry Airport site is perfectly positioned to do just that, being ideally positioned to supply the UK s leading automotive manufacturers who need access to world-class batteries on their doorsteps.
We need to make these advanced lithium-ion batteries where we make cars and there is no better place than in the West Midlands. Coventry Airport was acquired in 2010 by billionaire Sir Peter Rigby, the chief executive of Rigby Group PLC. The airport was opened in 1936 by Birmingham International Airport, but has lost business to Coventry City Council. The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre is due to revitalise the site and will be built adjacent to the West Midlands Gigafactory. Musk fumes as EU red tape means Berlin factory STILL can't open REPORT Brexit win! Elon Musk launches new UK Tesla project in Sussex INSIGHT Elon Musk 'interested' in UK Tesla factory after snubbing Russia LATEST Scientists probe 'fifth force of nature' with exciting CERN discovery Other gigafactories are also in the pipeline, including projects in the North East led by Nissan. The Coventry site, however, will be the biggest of them all with more than half a million square metres of space. Councillor Jim O Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change said: Coventry is the historical home of the automotive industry in the UK, where much of the cutting-edge technology that defined the global car industry last century was created here in our city. Now, as we stand at the dawn of a new electric age, we fully intend for Coventry to be very front of the green industrial revolution which will power the future of the automotive industry.