LONDON -- The UK government has pledged 28 million pounds ($36 million) to research electric-car batteries and establish an industry-leading factory.
The cash for the Coventry, central England-based Battery Industrialization Centre adds to an initial investment of 80 million pounds, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said on Thursday in a statement.
The government aims to fund testing facilities for new battery technologies as well as workforce training programs.
"Putting the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles is at the heart of our plans,' Business Minister Andrew Stephenson said in the statement.
The project is part of a broader aim for Britain to build a so-called Gigafactory -- a large-scale battery factory that would cater for car companies that build in Britain, including Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan.
Development of EVs is also a crucial component of Britain's plan to slash greenhouse gases.
For the government, there is a wider problem of retaining automakers as uncertainty created by Brexit undermines production lines.
Honda has said it will close its UK factory in 2021 at the cost of 3,500 jobs, while Nissan scrapped plans to build a new car model in Sunderland, northeast England. Jaguar Land Rover has also announced thousands of job cuts, linked in part to Brexit.
