Tata expects 2030 petrol and diesel ban to go ahead in return for electric car battery factory, insiders say
The owners of Jaguar Land Rover will expect Rishi Sunak to stick to his plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2030 in return for building a £4bn electric car battery factory in Somerset, insiders have said.
While details of the deal announced last week are confidential, industry sources said Tata Motors would have only gone ahead with the flagship plant based on the 2030 net-zero target.
The motor industry has urged the Government to provide more clarity on the deadline after reports over the weekend suggested the Prime Minister was reviewing the policy.
But Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, insisted on Tuesday that the 2030 target was “immovable”.
Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover did not respond to a request for comment.
An industry insider said “the plant and the deal will have gone ahead with the knowledge that there was the 2030 ban”.
A Government source declined to comment but said Tata Motors would have been aware of existing policy, including the proposed ban on new petrol and diesel sales.
Tata’s confirmation of plans to build the electric battery factory in Somerset last week was a major boost to the Prime Minister’s key pledge to revive the economy and to the country’s struggling motoring industry, announced just a day before critical by-elections.
The new plant is expected to create 4,000 jobs directly and could lead to thousands more in the supply chain once production starts as expected in 2026.
Tata Motors will invest £4bn in the site and the UK Government is understood to be providing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of subsidies.
At the time of the announcement last week, the Prime Minister said: “Tata is an international business and will consider a number of factors when deciding where to invest. Last autumn the Chancellor cut taxes specifically so that we could encourage investments like this.
“We’re making lots of changes and it’s this whole package that’s attractive, like investment in skills and apprenticeships, infrastructure in road, rail and broadband.
“It’s also the approach we’re taking to regulation after leaving the EU.”
On Monday, following reports that the petrol and diesel target was under review, the PM’s official spokesman said the 2030 ban “remains our commitment”.
