Running low on battery power: Brexit Britain faces an acid test – Reuters UK

  • Date: 21-Jul-2021
  • Source: Reuters
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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Running low on battery power: Brexit Britain faces an acid test – Reuters UK

LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Britain has set a fast pace in the electric vehicle race with its 2030 ban on sales of new fossil fuel-powered cars and has offered 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) to jump start its battery industry and associated supply chain.

But the cash and the headline-grabbing deadline - which is sooner than many other nations by several years - still leaves it trailing the European Union's drive to create a supply chain and far behind China, the electric vehicle (EV) battery leader.

The stakes are high for Brexit Britain. To keep selling into the 27-nation EU without tariffs, Britain's car industry, which employs 170,000 people, must ensure electric vehicles and the batteries that power them meet stringent rules of origin - with up to 70% of input in value terms coming from Britain or inside the EU.