Zero will also open an office in California as part of a plan to expand global production.

It comes as British car production begins to recover. Output from British car plants rose 6 per cent in the first three months of the year, helped out by a gradually returning supply of parts.

However, production still stood at just 788,000 cars in the last 12 months, far below the pre-pandemic, pre-Brexit level of more than 1.7 million vehicles a year.

Richard Peberdy, UK head of automotive, KPMG, said: “Whilst it’s good news that production levels are again increasing, big questions still remain unanswered about how the UK will produce electric vehicles at much larger scale and what the nation’s strategy is to ensure that its car industry can compete with countries who have already developed bold policy moves to encourage inward investment in next-generation manufacturing facilities.”