Britain’s only manufacturer of hand-built electric cars, based in Lichfield, is preparing to launch its first international operation with a multi-million-pound factory in the US planned to support an expected rise in demand.
RBW Electric Cars, which opened a £2 million factory on Britannia Way last October, is putting the finishing touches to plans for a plant in Virginia which will represent another £2 million investment and give the firm the ability to supply a major market in the States.
It will create an initial 40 jobs and potentially act as a cluster for electric vehicle development.
Founder Peter Swain said: “We are expecting the international facility to be open late 2025 or early 2026 and this will complement our UK HQ in Lichfield.
“The latter will always be our HQ and where our IP is developed, and we see the American expansion as the perfect vehicle for increasing our domestic workforce as well.”
RBW Electric Cars was inspired by Peter’s love of classic British cars and, following a chance conversation with his wife in 2017, the entrepreneur decided to see if he could find a way of putting electric drivetrains into Roadster and GT models.
He raised £5 million from friends to fund his vision and, more recently, a £10 million private equity injection has helped create a body and white plant and the brand-new 35,000 sq ft factory in Lichfield.
A European patent was secured in 2019 and this was followed by the start of production, a test drive by Top Gear’s James May and delivery of the first car to a UK client in January 2022.
The firm currently employs 38 people and aims to create over 100 jobs in Staffordshire.
Peter, who named the company after his daughters Rose, Becky and racing driver son Wesley, added: “The interest in what we are doing is huge, with 334 cars already sold and our showrooms in Bermuda, Hong Kong and in London proving extremely popular.”
RBW Electric Cars has now signed an agreement with Black County electrical specialist Teepee Electrical which will see it supply up to 40 different systems and 700 plus wires for each classic car built at the Lichfield production facility.
Engineers from the two companies have worked together to reverse engineer prototype systems and create detailed harness drawings, reducing manufacturing costs and developing components that are now ready for series production.
Steve Clarke, Managing Director of Teepee Electrical, said: “There is nothing like RBW and it is very pleasing to see how founder Peter Swain and his team are so committed to designing and manufacturing the cars in the West Midlands, the original heart of the UK’s automotive sector.”
He continued: “We’ve worked closely to develop our manufacturing outputs on the complex cable assemblies and wiring looms that play a such a critical part in the electric drivetrain of the vehicles. With volumes expected to rise to hundreds of cars per year, this represents a great opportunity for us to grow too.”
Peter added: “We’ve captured the imagination and now we need to deliver, which is why getting our supply chain right is so important.
“Teepee Electrical is the perfect example. We don’t want traditional automotive supplier relationships based purely on cost and constant demands. Instead, we prefer to develop long-term partnerships where we benefit from outstanding engineering expertise and there are mutual benefits throughout.”
Teepee Electrical is also exploring opening its own operation close to RBW’s proposed US site.
