A think tank says Britain is trailing its European rivals in the transition from fossil fuel to electric cars, and Brexit isn't helping. But subsidies won't either, the report insists, which pushes for more support for local battery production., claiming Brexit had made the UK"a less attractive investment location for non-British manufacturers," noting there was uncertainty over the future direction of Jaguar Land Rover, the largest employer among UK-based car assemblers.
So what's their solution? That the UK should"focus on other ways of encouraging investment, and on removing obstacles – most obviously high energy costs – that put UK-based battery firms at a disadvantage." Even so, the paper's author, Jeffrey Owen, admits that self-sufficiency in the battery supply chain is not a realistic objective for Britain –"even if more gigafactories are built the UK will remain a significant importer of battery components and materials."
The UK auto industry has"nearly 200,000 employees, mostly in the Midlands and the North," according to the paper.The EU, like Britain, has expressed discomfort over the US Inflation Reduction Act, where subsidies to the tune of $369 billion meant to bolster the greening of the US energy grid are being dished out.