Tata Group’s battery business Agratas has appointed Sir Robert McAlpine for the pre-construction phase of a ‘state-of-the-art’ battery cell manufacturing facility near Bridgwater, in Somerset.

The construction of new electric vehicle battery ‘gigaplant’ has moved a step forward after it won support from the government.

Costain will lead a government-funded feasibility study of an ‘electric roads’ system that will charge battery-powered trucks as they drive.