The collapse of Britishvolt, a battery manufacturer for electric vehicles (EVs) that was hailed by former prime minister Boris Johnson as a "pioneering firm", has prompted an inquiry by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
The company, which had planned to build a gigafactory in Northumberland, went into administration with the loss of 300 jobs, due to a lack of funding for research and development of its site at Cambois, near Blyth.
According to a statement late on Tuesday, the committee will investigate the supply of batteries for EV manufacturing in the UK and the feasibility of British production. This inquiry comes after BMW recently halted production of the electric Mini at its Oxford site in October.
Darren Jones, chair of the committee, said: “The future of car manufacturing in the UK is dependent on our ability to make electric vehicles, and to be able to export them into the EU. That means we need local supplies of electric vehicle batteries – something we're falling significantly behind on compared to other parts of the world.
“This inquiry will look at what’s holding back the development of electric car batteries in the UK and what needs to be done to protect the thousands of jobs across the country in this important sector.”
Britishvolt received millions of pounds of financial backing from metals giant Glencore, but fell into emergency funding talks in November, and managed to secure short-term funding.
The company had also been promised government funding, but it was conditional on reaching certain targets, so no money was paid out.
The Unite union has criticised the government for "a total abdication of leadership" over the EV battery manufacturing sector. Ian Levy, Tory MP for the red wall seat of Blyth Valley, will continue to ask the government to support the Northumberland Britishvolt site.