BLYTH, England – The UK risks falling behind in the race to establish an electric car industry if it cannot build more battery factories - and quickly.
Ambitious plans from automakers to ramp up production of electric vehicles and a looming change in post-Brexit trading rules that will limit options to import cheap Asian batteries mean there is no time to waste.
But a shortage of suitable sites for "gigafactories," and the decision by some local manufacturers to import EV batteries from mainland Europe, are creating challenges that executives and politicians say the government must do more to address.
Without enough battery plants, some fear automakers could leave, hitting an industry that employs about 170,000 people.