AN electric vehicle parts maker is in advanced talks to open a new North-East factory.

Sevcon aims to move into a larger site in Gateshead.

Bosses told The Northern Echo negotiations over the plant are being thrashed out, adding the switch has the potential to create and support scores of jobs.

The business revealed its plans after last week confirming it had opened an office at Milton Park, near Oxford.

Officials say that site puts Team Valley-based Sevcon at the heart of stellar British motorsport, with the area known for housing various companies and Formula One teams, such as Renault, Williams and Haas.

Sevcon, recognised for its work in supplying controllers for the all-electric Renault Twizy city car and parts for Brammo’s green motorcycles, said the move will create 20 engineering jobs by the end of next year and generate a similar number at Gateshead.

However, Matt Boyle, president and chief executive, said the business was committed to strengthening its North-East base to ensure it remains a key hub in Sevcon’s global network.

He told The Northern Echo: “We have a factory in Gateshead but have identified a location that would keep us there.

“We are still in negotiations but we wouldn’t rule out jobs.

“Moving to a larger plant will help take on more people.”

Although reluctant to say who Sevcon will be working alongside at Oxford, Mr Boyle said the expansion will put it closer to customers and the supply chain.

He also said the company was gaining an increasingly strong marketplace name, emphasised by a previous £28m supercar deal to develop controls for electrifying drive systems in high-performance machines.

He said: “We are at the forefront of technology worldwide for hybrid and pure electric vehicles.

“The supercar agreement is going quite nicely and we are building a reputation.

“The good thing about building such a reputation is that we can use it to open doors and we have a pipeline of products that we are having to staff for.

“At the same time, when you get a reputation for solving complex problems, words gets around.

“It is a virtuous circle.”

Sevcon’s agreement with the supercar operator, referred to as a household name, is due to last four years, whereupon the unnamed customer has forecast it could spend up to £28m on parts. Earlier this year, Sevcon took on Italian battery charger producer, Bassi.

Officials said it would increase the Sevcon’s hold on the electric vehicle market, allow it to sell apparatus to more customers and enhance new controllers.