Jaguar Land Rover's electric car: Make Wolverhampton the project's home, say city chiefs

The car maker, which already makes its engines in the city, has said it wants to create 10,000 jobs by making electric cars and batteries in the West Midlands.

Wolverhampton council has now stepped in to ask JLR to look at expanding its i54 engine plant, on the city's border with South Staffordshire, as the home of the carmaker's new electric dream.

Council leader Roger Lawrence said: "Obviously, we would be delighted if JLR would be prepared to consider expansion of the existing site in terms of the electric vehicles project."

He said the councils in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and South Staffordshire were committed to building on the success of the i54 development site to provide new 'large scale' manufacturing sites.

JLR is already doubling the size of its engine factory in the city, where it currently employs over 1,000 people, but there is speculation the i54 site could be further expanded onto open land to the west.

Wolverhampton's move will throw a spanner in the works for Coventry and Warwickshire, which has been assuming it will be the site of the electric cars project because it is already home to Jaguar Land Rover's Whitley headquarters. This is already set for major expansion with a new engineering centre.

But a plant to make electric cars and the batteries to power them would require a brand new development with . And JLR is in a hurry.

It's first electric car, the I-Pace, was launched in Los Angeles last month. It will be made in Austria and go on sale in 2018, but Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth says he wants the next generation of electric cars to be built in the West Midlands.

Wolverhampton council leader Councillor Roger Lawrence, said: "We're delighted that JLR have made a public commitment to manufacturing in the UK and to continue its significant investment in the West Midlands.

"These are exciting times for the automotive sector as it drives towards battery-powered vehicle technology.

"Having already invested over £950 million at i54 South Staffordshire, JLR's engine manufacturing centre is producing thousands of engines a week with output set to be boosted when the next phase of their expansion is operational, as planned, in 2018.

"The City of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and South Staffordshire Councils – along with our local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) – are committed to building on the successes of i54 and to providing large-scale, quality sites with great accessibility and infrastructure to support continued growth and jobs in hi-tech manufacturing and technology."