BMW has launched a new line of EV production and unveiled a massive new investment in a UK plant to go with it.
The industry giant is set to funnel millions into the factory as it pivots towards an all-electric future.
BMW announced major funding for a UK plant amid its transition to all-electric by 2030Alamy
The Government revealed that BMW will invest heavily to “transform” their MINI plant in Oxford.
This will secure “4,000 high-quality jobs and strengthen the electric vehicle supply chain”, the press release added”.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: “Today’s announcement by BMW, coming a week after electric vehicle production started at Stellantis’s site at Ellesmere Port, clearly shows that the Government’s plan for the automotive sector is working.”
BMW recently took the decision to discontinue one of its most iconic MINI cars in favour of a new electric model.
Indeed, they unveiled the first electric MINI at the Oxford plant in 2019 and all cars from the formerly-British will be electric by 2030.
This is in line with the controversial ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars set to be introduced across the country that year.
Thousands have already backed The Sun’s Give Us A Brake campaign, urging the Government to delay the ban until sufficient EV infrastructure is in place.
Nonetheless, ministers appear to be pushing ahead with the deadline and the MINI brand is going with them.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed BMW’s announcement as a “shining example of how the UK is the best place to build cars of the future.”
He said: “By backing our car manufacturing industry, we are securing thousands of jobs and growing our economy right across the country.”
It comes after The Sun Online gave readers a look inside the UK’s EV fiasco, including disabled drivers queuing for hours in the rain and 24 charging points being taped off at the same service station.
Meanwhile, one EV owner said he felt “mugged off” by extortionate charging prices and another claimed he was “stitched up” by the lack of available charging.