West Midlands to receive major £50 million funding boost for EV sector
A major new £50 million fund to help automotive companies in the West Midlands win new contracts and create jobs in the electric vehicle sector is being set up.
Firms will be able to apply to the West Midlands Supplier Readiness and Transformation Fund for grants to invest in new equipment, skills and production capacity to help them compete in the expanding EV market.
From April, grants of between £250,000 and £3 million will be available with at least 50 per cent private match funding required.
As a result of the match funding requirement, the programme could see a total of £100 million being invested in the sector.
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said he secured £50 million for the fund from the Government as part of his plan to keep the region’s motor industry at the forefront of the transition to electrification.
The fund will run for four years and forms part of the government’s DRIVE35 initiative which aims to strengthen UK supply chains and boost domestic production as the country moves towards zero-emission technologies.
The West Midlands boasts one of the UK’s largest automotive sectors with 1,000 companies, employing more than 30,000 people making cars, engineering parts and developing state-of-the-art EV and battery technology.
It is hoped the fund will boost capacity in the supply chain and put the region in pole position to help meet the rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles, creating more skilled local jobs, boosting wages and productivity.
Mr Parker said: “We are the birthplace of the UK car industry and now, more than 100 years after petrol cars first rolled off the Daimler production line in Coventry, we are powering towards a new era of electrification.
“Government is backing our flair for car building and innovation because it knows a successful West Midlands automotive sector is crucial to the wider British economy.
“This funding is good news and will help us write a bright new chapter in our car industry’s long and proud story.”
The fund will be discussed by the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Investment Board on Monday, 23 February, before being ratified by it’s Board on Friday, March 13.
Major investment is already being made in the sector including £23 million for the Coventry & Warwick Investment Zone site ready for battery manufacturing, 10,000 publicly accessible EV charging connection points and a roll-out of a zero-emission bus fleet.
