50-Fold Increase In Electric Motor Manufacturer YASA’s Production Capacity (UK)
February 2nd, 2018 by James Ayre
The UK-based electric motor manufacturer YASA will be increasing its production capacity 50-fold over the coming months. That is, it will be increasing from a production capacity of 2,000 units a year to 100,000 units a year. The increase is in anticipation of a surging market for electric vehicles in coming years, company execs have revealed.
The vast increase in production capacity will be accomplished, as one would probably guess, via the development of a new production factory — one which, given recent public comments from government figures, is likely getting a fair amount of government support.
This news follows on the announcement late last year that the UK government had settled on the site to be used for the creation of a new auto battery research and development facility — one meant to keep the UK relevant as regards modern automotive technology.
The coverage from Reuters continues: “On Thursday, YASA, based near the English city of Oxford, said it had raised another £15 million ($21 million) as part of its expansion. … The firm exports 80% of production and has worked with companies including Britain’s two biggest carmakers Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Nissan as well as Aston Martin.”
Both Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover appear to have some of the most aggressive electric vehicle growth plans on the market. The fact that YASA is announcing such massive expansion seems to imply that one or both of them have given the go-ahead to start ramping up production like never before.
“JLR will decide this year whether to build electric cars in its home market, previously citing factors such as pilot testing and support from science and government as pre-requisites.”
Judging on various other announcements recently, it seems fairly likely that the UK government will offer JLR a compelling incentives and support package to keep the company there.
With regard to the recent announcement from YASA, CEO Chris Harris stated: “Our customers are looking to adopt innovative new technologies such as YASA’s axial-flux electric motors and controllers in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding hybrid and pure electric automotive market.”