Tata Group job opening ads for UK cell developer hints at local factory

By Joshua Gallo

The Tata Group has announced job opportunities for a UK-based cellular developer and construction project manager, indicating that Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company is preparing to locate its new battery factory in Britain.

The job postings, posted on LinkedIn, are for the battery cell operation at Tata Agratas, which is building two factories — one in India and one in Europe.

The announcements did not say whether or not the factory would be in the UK, only that the locations would be in Coventry, where Jaguar Land Rover currently produces the cars. A decision in favor of the United Kingdom would secure the future of JLR’s factories in the country, after stiff competition with the Spanish authorities. The final plant will have a capacity of 40 GWh.

Setting up a UK factory would be a huge win for the government and the car industry, which has struggled to compete with EU and US incentives for green technology investments such as battery sites. UK cell hopefuls Britishvolt Ltd earlier this year entered administration.

The plant is set to make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover’s planned range of all-electric models due to start from 2024.

First published: Jul 03 2023 | 3:04 p.m ist