Construction of a massive car battery "gigafactory" in Northumberland is set to begin this summer, it has emerged.
Britishvolt, the firm behind the ambitious project, hopes to agree a deal giving it millions of pounds of government support "in the next couple of weeks".
Isobel Sheldon, Britishvolt's Chief Strategy Officer, told a Committee of MPs that the factory's location, the former site of a coal-fired power station in Blyth, beat around 120 other sites which were considered for the factory, which it is hoped will create 3,000 jobs.
But she also warned that the financial support offered by the Government, which is believed to come to £400 million shared between schemes across the country, is "not enough".
She was speaking to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the development of a supply chain for the batteries used in electric cars.
The inquiry also heard from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents carmakers, and independent academic Professor David Greenwood, an expert on the car industry, who both warned that the UK needs to build gigafactories to protect jobs.
As car, van and coachmakers shift to electric vehicles, they will choose to build new models close to factories making the batteries - whether that's in the UK or elsewhere in Europe, the experts said.
The batteries are large and heavy objects used to power electric vehicles, and are very different to traditional car batteries.
Prof Greenwood said that other countries had provided up to £750 million in subsidy for each gigafactory, while the UK was offering £400 million to subsidise construction of a number of plants.
Ms Sheldon told the MPs: "We started with a list of about 120 sites."
Blyth was chosen because its coastal location made it easy to import materials via sea, without requiring long journeys on the nation's roads, and the site was already connected in to the national grid, making it easier to supply the huge amounts of energy the factory will need.
It meant the Blyth site was "shovel ready", she said, adding: "We will be breaking ground in summer this year on that facility."
She warned that the huge costs involved in creating such a factory meant that Government support was essential.
"You can't do this in a small way and build up over time. You have to go at it in a very big way ... that really means that this this is a front end loaded capital exercise.
"Huge amounts of capital are required to build up the core and shell of the buildings and put the machinery in."
She said the firm had put in a bid for funding in September, saying: "It takes a long time to jump through all of those hoops
"We should be coming to a conclusion in the next couple of weeks, hopefully."
However, referring to the support on offer as the "quantum" of funding, she said: "The quantum is not enough. £750 million in subsidies to major plants is pretty much the norm in this region and we've got less than half of that available for the whole programme, which is a bit of a problem."
Prof Greenwood, Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems at the University of Warwick, said he hoped the Government would increase the support available in the Chancellor's spending review, due in the Autumn.
He said: "At the moment we've got visibility of about £400m ... we hope that number will change."
And he said the UK needs to build car battery factories in order to protect the car industry. He said: "If we're not able to do that then there is a high likelihood that manufacturers may move the assembly of vehicles with batteries closer to the battery plants where they secure their supply."
Matthew Ogg, Senior Policy Manager with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, told the inquiry: "The gigafactories are maybe the most tangible asset we could think of that would secure UK manufacturing. And we'd be absolutely delighted if that could be located here. That would certainly help our industry today and in the future."
