The Transition To Electric Vehicles For West Midlands

By Clive Hickman OBE, Chief Executive - Manufacturing Technology Centre
 
The impact that the transition to electric vehicles on the West Midlands landscape are the twin priorities of levelling up, in terms of our regional economy, and the achievement of our net zero ambition.
Sadly, the West Midlands, and particularly the Black Country, has some of the highest levels of unemployment in the country, and the move away from the internal combustion engine has the potential to make that situation even worse.
When I look across our region, I see hundreds of SMEs employing thousands of people making engine components such as cylinder heads, engine blocks, pistons, conrods, crankshafts, valves and springs - none of which will be required with the arrival of the EV.
Electric motors have only one moving part; the rotor, so what do we need to do collectively to avoid the West Midlands becoming a barren landscape?
 

 
For this transition to happen, we know that we will need over 1...