Jaguar Land Rover's chief executive, Dr Ralf Speth, has set out a vision for producing electric vehicles (EVS) that will see 10,000 new jobs created in the West Midlands.

And, possibly for the first time publicly, he confirmed JLR’s goal of doubling production from 500,000 to one million cars a year. That could create thousands more jobs at the firm and in the supply chain.

It’s an exciting vision of how both the firm and the industry needs to transform over the next decade.

But there’s a catch. The news wasn’t actually an announcement of a plan as such, rather an ‘aspiration’ of where the firm would like to go if the government provides the right support through a supportive industrial strategy.

The firm said it will need help in terms of land, infrastructure, power supplies - key for the energy intensive process of making batteries - and skills.

(By the way these are all the things we have highlighted in our research on what constrains further investment and reshoring in the auto industry).

The timing was critical. Nissan had just held a big gun to the head of the government over the location of the next generation Qashqai in the wake of Brexit-induced uncertainty and a deal was struck to secure that investment in the UK.

Quite what deal was done with Nissan is not clear - and interestingly the Treasury has refused to tell the OBR if any contingent liabilities arise from that deal.

Perhaps not surprisingly, though, the government announced £390m of funding for EV development in the Autumn Statement. Nissan is the biggest producer of EVs in the UK by far.

And now JLR is spelling out what support it needs to make a huge investment in EV research and development, battery making and actual EV production.

The JLR boss was clear on the ambition: “we want to build our EVs in the West Midlands, in the home of our design and engineering. This is clear, it goes without saying. But there is a huge problem - we don’t currently have the capacity to produce them at scale nor at speed, the costs of doing business in the UK are high compared to other countries, and alongside the access to the right skills, energy infrastructure remains the single greatest challenge to Jaguar Land Rover.”

Speth added that JLR needs the equivalent of an extra 12 to 15 gigawatts of electricity per year and the “right legislative framework” to develop its EV plans, and for the wider sector to prosper in the UK.

The firm unveiled its first EV concept car, the Jaguar I- PACE at the LA Motor Show recently.

Speth warned that the UK will lose investment to other countries, such as Germany, if the government did not act: “this is a race ladies and gentlemen, it’s really a race and either we win or we lose. The government must be the enabler.

The government aims to set out its new industrial strategy by the end of the year and JLR has effectively told the government to step up to the plate.

The early signs look promising to a degree. Greg Clark, the business, energy and industrial strategy secretary, stated that making Britain a hub for next-generation EVs will be at the heart of the government’s new industrial strategy.

Clark said that EVs, driverless cars and battery storage will be an “emblematic area of focus... one of the big features of the world and Britain’s industrial policy during the weeks, months and years ahead”.

“The pace of this is quickening all the time and so is our commitment to it. This is a big moment, for a hugely important combination of sectors technologies and institutions.

JLR’s shift into EVs - subject to government support – highlights how quickly the car industry and perceptions of EVs are changing.

In fact, Jaguar is a latecomer to the EV party. Tesla, Nissan, Renault and BMW have all made significant investment in EVs and more are following; witness VW and Toyota now getting in on the act.

VW of course needs to clean up its act in the wake of the self-induced ‘dieselgate’ scandal and hopes that 25% of VW sales will be EVs by 2025.

EV sales currently represent less than 1% of the European market. So far EVs haven’t taken off in a big way partly because of the upfront costs and relatively poor consumer perception. I am confident that will change, however (by the way, I’ve driven one for several years - they work).

Legislation is also forcing manufacturers to lower their fleets’ average tailpipe emissions, making EVs a key imperative for JLR and others in meeting new regulations – whether in the EU or California. Meanwhile Tesla has taken a chunk of the premium market with its up-market EVs.

At the same time, improvements in batteries (higher density, better range) and better charging infrastructure are helping to assuage range anxiety for drivers.

Low running costs, aided by tax breaks, have helped to offset the high price of EVs for early adopters, and as battery costs fall so will EV prices.

We’ll see a lot of new mass market EVs in 2017 with significantly greater range, like the Tesla Model 3, the Chevrolet Bolt, as well as models from Renault and Nissan. They will be game-changers.

In fact, we are about to see the first wave of viable electric cars that can compete in the mass market. And as battery prices come down then by the mid-2020s there will be a tipping point when EVs are likely to outcompete the internal combustion engine.

Like other car firms, JLR will have to make a huge investment in EVs and driverless cars over the next decade. The question for government is whether it wants that investment here in the UK or elsewhere.

An industrial strategy that provides long term commitment on EVs could help underpin huge private sector investment that would bring both a green dividend and new jobs in research, development, assembly and the supply chain.

There’s a big opportunity here for the region and the UK. The government needs to grasp it.

Professor David Bailey works at the Aston Business School.

This article, written by Professor David Bailey, originally appeared in The Birmingham Mail on 29 November 2016.