Electric car plans dealt major blow as UK gigafactories take 'four times longer' to build than in China

Supporting the UK electric car market through a new battery gigafactory can take up to four times longer to be built and can cost four times as much as it would in China, a senior industry executive has warned.

Karthik Selvan, Chief Procurement Officer at battery manufacturer Agratas, warned the UK faces a major challenge if it wants to compete with global rivals in electric vehicle production.

Speaking at the SMMT International Automotive Summit 2026, Mr Selvan revealed that constructing a gigafactory in China typically takes just 12 to 18 months, compared with 36 to 48 months in the UK.

The cost gap was even wider. "If I were to build a gigafactory in China... that's X," he said. "When I build the exact same gigafactory in the UK, it goes anywhere between 3X and 4X."

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

Agratas, part of India's Tata Group, is currently building major battery plants in both Somerset and Gujarat, India, allowing the company to directly compare the two projects.

The UK factory, being built in Bridgwater, Somerset, will employ around 4,000 people and hopes to produce between nine and 12 million battery cells a year.

Mr Selvan said the company is deliberately commissioning its Indian factory first so lessons learned can be applied to the UK site six months later.

Despite investing heavily in the UK, Mr Selvan questioned why companies would choose to invest here when projects are so much slower and more expensive than in other countries.

He asked: "If I were to build a gigafactory in China, it would take me about 12 to 18 months. If I do the same thing in India, it takes me about 24 to 36 months. If I do that in the UK, it takes 36 to 48 months."

Mr Selvan warned that the UK must become much more efficient if it wants to attract investment. "You've got to have laser focus on your execution because you already have that much of a disadvantage," he said.

The expert also pointed to high energy costs, which marks another major obstacle for manufacturers, saying: "The cost of energy in China is X, in India is X. UK is 2.3X. For a gigafactory that is so energy hungry, this is your biggest operational expense."

He argued that delays to electricity grid connections should be treated as a national priority rather than simply a construction issue.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Driving law changes launching in July - Major Motability rules, new MOT test charges and more
• Motorists hit with driving licence points as thousands travel in faulty cars on UK roads
• Britons to be impacted by Brexit rules as 'Made in Europe' plans risk derailing UK car sector

Mr Selvan also warned that the UK lacks certain capabilities of bringing together the complex engineering needed for battery plants.

"In the UK, there are contractors that are very good at heavy civil engineering... and contractors that are very good at process, but very few contractors that are very good at integration," he said.

He added that changing factory designs after construction begins is one of the biggest causes of spiralling costs for manufacturers.

Looking beyond construction, Mr Selvan said the UK and Europe also remain heavily dependent on Asia for battery materials.

"The uncomfortable truth for the UK and Europe is that this capability is just beginning to evolve," he said.

He warned that introducing tougher local manufacturing rules before domestic supply chains are ready could backfire by making British battery production even more expensive.

"The takeaway is very simple," Mr Selvan concluded. "A resilient gigafactory isn't just an assembly plant. It's actually an integrated material capability."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter