Britishvolt's lofty plans for a 'gigafactory' are now hanging in the balance.

The company had to file for bankruptcy.

Last year, the start-up was valued at £800 million, now investors only want to bid a fraction of that.

Whether the £4 billion car battery factory in Blyth will actually be built also depends on whether the state makes more funding commitments.

Britishvolt had not yet succeeded in finding really large buyers for the batteries.

The only real gigafactory on the island is that of the Chinese group Envision for Nissan in Sunderland.

The basic problem, however, is a political one: the state is dictating that combustion engines will soon be phased out - in Great Britain as early as 2030 - but there is a lack of capacity for battery production throughout Europe.

Batteries for e-cars will probably continue to be manufactured in Asia, in China, Japan and Korea, and imported at high cost for many years or even decades to come.

This puts the European automotive industry at risk and consumers, for whom it is becoming increasingly expensive, lose out.