- Nissan will invest £423m in the production of EVs in Sunderland.
- The company will also invest in a battery gigafactory.
- The UK will ban the sale of new fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2030
Nissan is set to expand electric vehicle production at its car plant in Sunderland and support partner Envision AESC to build a battery plant. Nissan says it would invest up to £423m to produce a new-generation all-electric vehicle in the UK; it is estimated that the production of the new model will create about 909 new jobs and more than 4,500 in its UK supply chain.
The battery factory to be built by Envision will provide batteries to power up to 100,000 Nissan electric vehicles yearly. Both companies hope to commence operation of the plant by 2024 when the UK-made components in cars manufactured in the UK are required to increase in line with the UK-EU trade deal terms. Both production factories will require an investment of £1 billion.
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, while speaking about the investment, noted that the gigafactory is going to drive down the cost of electric vehicles (EVs), especially for ordinary families and not just people who can currently afford them.