Nissan announces major UK electric car expansion
Nissan has announced a major expansion of electric vehicle production at its car plant in Sunderland which will create 1,650 new jobs.
The Japanese carmaker says it will build its new-generation all-electric model at the site.
Its partner, Envision AESC, will also build a new electric battery plant.
The new electric vehicle hub, launched with £1bn worth of investment, will also support thousands of jobs in the UK supply chain.
Of that £1bn, Nissan said it would invest up to £423m to produce a new-generation all-electric vehicle in the UK, building on the success of its existing electric car, the Leaf.
Production of the new model will create 909 new jobs and more than 4,500 in its UK supply chain.
Other production locations have not yet been confirmed. More details about the new vehicle will be released closer to the car’s launch date.
Envision’s new gigafactory will eventually provide batteries to power up to 100,000 Nissan electric vehicles a year. It will create new 750 jobs and secure 300 existing roles.
It is hoped the new plant will operational in time for 2024, when the level of UK-made components in cars manufactured in the UK is required to start increasing, in line with the terms of the UK’s trade deal with the EU.
The majority of Nissan’s Sunderland-assembled cars are sold in the EU.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Nissan’s announcement to build its new-generation all-electric vehicle in Sunderland, alongside a new gigafactory from Envision-AESC, is a major vote of confidence in the UK and our highly-skilled workers in the North East.
“Building on over 30 years of history in the area, this is a pivotal moment in our electric vehicle revolution and securing its future for decades to come.
“Commitments like these exemplify our ability to create hundreds of green jobs and boost British industry, whilst also allowing people to travel in an affordable and sustainable way so we can eliminate our contributions to climate change.”
The government is contributing to the cost of the expansion, but a precise figure has not been disclosed.
The news that Nissan is pumping hundreds of millions of pounds into a massive expansion of UK-based electric car manufacturing is a huge boost to the North East and the UK car industry as a whole. These are long-term investments that will create thousands of jobs. The prime minister and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will be at the plant and will welcome the chance to answer critics who say the UK is falling behind European rivals in securing all-important battery production capacity, seen as essential as a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 approaches.
But amidst the euphoria, a few sobering facts. By industry estimates, the UK is currently on course to have less than a tenth of the battery production capacity of Germany by 2025. From 2024, under the terms of the UK-EU Brexit deal, the percentage of components required to be sourced within the UK or EU begins to rise if UK-assembled cars are to avoid tariffs when exported to the EU – where most Nissans are sold. If you don’t have a battery industry, you won’t have a car industry.
Although the precise details have not been disclosed, the government is thought to have contributed tens of millions of pounds towards the estimated £500m cost of the project. The prime minister will argue that it kills two prized economic birds – decarbonisation and levelling up – with one stone. Workers, unions and local politicians in the North East will consider it money well spent. But industry experts are clear: this must be the first of many such investments if the UK is to keep up with the biggest revolution in car technology since they were invented.
Earlier this week, a report commissioned by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said a series of factories producing electric car batteries must be built in the UK to secure the future of the country’s automotive industry.
The SMMT said the government should announce a “binding target” of 60 gigawatt hours of battery capacity to be in place by 2030.
The SMMT-commissioned study, written by policy and research company Public First, also called for the installation of at least 2.3 million charging points nationwide before the end of the decade.
This is aimed at giving confidence to drivers – particularly those with no off-road parking at home – to invest in zero-emission vehicles.
