Almost a decade after playing home to Europe’s first mass-produced electric car, the UK is at risk of becoming a footnote in the global auto industry’s shift to battery-powered vehicles.

The UK lacks the cell and pack factories automakers will need to support their transition away from the internal combustion engine. In what could be a fresh blow to British carmaking, the country’s top auto manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover, is in talks with Northvolt and SVolt Energy Technology about supplying batteries for a range of EVs it may assemble in Slovakia, according to people familiar with the matter.

Unless battery investment picks up, carmakers may only accelerate their exodus from what was once the world’s second-biggest auto manufacturing base. The last few years, the UK fell outside the top 15.

Read more: SCMP