Tata’s gigafactory gives Britain’s battery industry potential at last

The Jaguar Land Rover owner's new plant should encourage more similar investments in the UK by others

France has four. Germany has nine. The US has 34. China has a staggering 283. Around the world, countries are racing to announce plans for huge gigafactories to supply the batteries to power the electric car era.

By contrast, the presence of only one large UK gigafactory project with big financial backers - supplying Nissan in Sunderland - was growing increasingly alarming. That changed last week as Jaguar Land Rover's owner, Tata Group, chose the UK for a new 4bn battery factory. It had considered a rival site in Spain for the plant.