Watt Electric Vehicle Company (WEVC), winner of Autocar’s 2026 Innovation Award, has struck a deal with JTA, a major Qatari-based investor, to build two models in Qatar’s first dedicated EV manufacturing plant.

The new factory will initially build a new passenger car and a medium-sized delivery van along the lines of WEVC’s own recently developed eCV1. It is expected to be ready for manufacturing to start in early 2028. 

Production will run initially at around 5000 units a year but will expand considerably beyond that.

Vehicle design and engineering for the project will be led by WEVC, from new premises it plans to open soon in the Midlands, in addition to bases it also occupies in Cornwall and Worcestershire. 

Both of the initial Qatari vehicles, and others to be launched later, will be made entirely in Qatar but based on WEVC’s highly versatile PACES aluminium skateboard chassis, which uses a series of patented extrusions and joining pieces to greatly simplify jigging and slash manufacturing costs.

WEVC founder and CEO Neil Yates said the Qatari deal will help accelerate his company’s existing plan to establish its own EV manufacturing capability in the UK and will be the forerunner of similar satellite operations in the US and Asia. 

“We want to be a partner in local manufacturing operations around the world,” he said. “Our way of making cars is being seen as a very effective way of coping with geopolitical difficulties like the rise of tariff barriers. It’s also very cost-efficient because it requires low capital expenditure."