Oxford-based electric motor manufacturer Yasa has opened a factory capable of producing 100,000 electric motors per year.
The facility creates 150 jobs and has benefited from the Government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre initiative, which aims to turn the UK into a hub for the development of electric vehicle (EV) technology and autonomous driving. Yasa has in the past built engines for Jaguar, used in the C-X75 concept.
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It is estimated that 80% of the factory’s output will be destined for export. Yasa, founded in 2009, was a company spun off from the University of Oxford. The development flies in the face of more pessimistic British manufacturing reports, which attribute the downturn to Brexit.
Yesterday, it was announced that UK car manufacturing had dropped by 3% amid fears of Brexit’s adverse effect on UK car industry growth. UK car sales fell by by 5.7% last year, with Brexit also blamed for the decline.
Yasa CEO Chris Harris said: “Yasa is a great example of what the UK can and should expect to achieve if we invest in the innovative and creative ideas emerging from our best universities, and have the determination and patience to turn those great ideas into world-beating companies.”
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Opening the facility, business and energy secretary Greg Clark said: “Innovation is the lifeblood of our industrial strategy and our economy. This spirit is embodied by Yasa, a thriving business that has emerged from one of our finest academic institutions and is now helping to deliver the UK’s ambition to lead the world in meeting the grand challenges presented by clean growth and future of mobility.
“Government investment in programmes that have supported Yasa have helped propel this company forward. The factory I will be opening today is testimony to what can be achieved through our industrial approach, when academia, government and industry come together.”
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