Jobs boost as EV manufacturer settles roots in UK.
One of the world leaders in electric vehicles is settling its roots in the UK thanks to a multi-billion dollar deal.
Detroit Electric, which recently signed a joint venture agreement for US$1.8 billion dollars of investment capital, has started a recruitment drive to ensure that the best team is in place for its new UK facility in Leamington Spa.
This week the company announced that some of the top senior technical posts have now been filled at the Warwickshire site, which will produce the new high performance pure electric sports car, the SP.01.
With a further 200 engineering and manufacturing positions to be filled in coming months, it points towards Detroit Electric becoming a significant player when it comes to automotive employment in the UK.
Company director Richie Frost said: “Although we secured the long-term funding only a few weeks ago, we were already poised to implement our strategy to become one of the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturers.
“To achieve that, one of the key steps is to first recruit the senior technical team, and we’ve already secured some of the best talent in the industry to begin filling some of the top senior posts,” he said, “I’m confident of bringing more exceptional people in to complete the management team within the next few months. Then, we can start filling the engineering and manufacturing positions – more than 200 in total over the next six months.
“This will make us one of the automotive super-employers in the region, and our state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing centre will be producing world-class electric vehicles for export to global markets,” said Frost.
Detroit Electric’s recently signed joint venture agreement secured US$1.8 billion dollars of investment capital, of which US$370million will fund Detroit Electric’s European operations over the next four years.
Initially, this will allow the completion of the final homologation phase of its all-electric SP:01 sports car and the start of production at Leamington Spa. In parallel, the expanded engineering teams will develop three exciting all-new models over the coming three years, all incorporating Detroit Electric’s proprietary electric drivetrain system.
Tim Payne, CEO of InstaVolt, has welcomed the news of Detroit Electric basing its operations in the UK. He said: “The country’s electric vehicle market is booming and Detroit Electric has made a good choice in setting up shop in the UK. We have a strong reputation for automotive manufacturing and there’s no shortage of talent when it comes to science and technology.
“With last week’s figures from the SMMT showing yet another increase in electric vehicle sales, it seems the market interest will be there when the first of these SP.01s roll off the production line.”
