The government are giving Jaguar Land Rover a £500m loan to help increase progress on making electric vehicles. Theresa May said the loan will help Britain’s large car makers sell more electric cars globally.
This month Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced its plans to build electric cars at its Castle Bromwich plant, Birmingham. To start with the plant will produce an electric version of the Jaguar XJ, the move will secure 2,700 jobs at the plant. Earlier this year, the company had plans to cut 4,500 jobs globally, the majority of these jobs were going to be in the UK. Workers at the plant last month voted in favour of a four day week.
The loan from the government is to “ensure no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, while operating at no net cost to the taxpayer.” It is more of a fund that is to help produce cars that are good for the environment.
May wants to increase the use of electric vehicles to reduce the amount of pollution and to make England more environmentally friendly. There is also plans for new homes in England to have electric car charging points to encourage more electric car use. There is currently less than 200,000 electric vehicles on the road.
Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, said: “[It is] clear there is an appetite for cleaner, greener transport. Home charging provides the most convenient and low-cost option for consumers – you can simply plug your car in to charge overnight as you would a mobile phone.”
