18 January 2023 - UK faces a crisis over electric cars

The UK faces a race against time to be able to compete with the rest of Europe when petrol and diesel vehicles are phased out beginning in 2030. The ability of the country to compete over the production of electric vehicles was handed a potentially fatal blow as Britishvolt, a start-up which carried British hopes to be at the forefront of European battery technology, collapsed into administration with its entire workforce made redundant. The UK now only has one factory producing the power units for electric cars, and that is Chinese owned and is in partnership with the Nissan factory in Sunderland. Battery manufacturing facilities are springing up all over Europe, and the UK is far behind it. Industry sources were voicing their concerns yesterday that with it taking five years from concept to manufacture, the country realistically has a two-year window before it loses the ability to compete in the automotive sector. This sector employs around a quarter of a million people across the entire spectrum of vehicle production and spare parts. Beyond Currency Market Commentary: Aims to provide deep insights into the political and economic events worldwide that can cause currencies to change and how this can affect your FX Exposure.