Nissan Investing $1.4 Billion in U.K. EV Plant

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Nissan Motor Company (Yokohama, Japan) has committed to spending more than US$1.4 billion to build electric versions of two of its leading crossover cars at its U.K. plant in Sunderland.

The investment will also cover the costs of building a third electric-vehicle (EV) battery plant at the site with its partner, China's Envision AESC. Industrial Info is also tracking the other Nissan-Envision project at the Sunderland site--the only U.K. EV battery gigafactory project--which is underway and will have a capacity of 11 gigawatt-hours (GWh) when it is commissioned in 2024, rising to an annual capacity of up to 38 GWh when fully expanded in later years. The decision means that all three Nissan models made at its U.K. plant--the Leaf, Qashqai and JUKE crossovers--will be 100% electric, as will all Nissan cars in Europe by 2030. The company employs 7,000 employees in the U.K.. The investment will support the company's EV36Zero hub strategy to combine EVs, renewable energy and battery production at a single site. It said that the vehicle and battery manufacturing operations will be fully powered by the "EV36Zero Microgrid", which will incorporate wind, solar farms and battery storage at Nissan Sunderland that will also supply green power to nearby businesses.

"Exciting, electric vehicles are at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon neutrality," said Nissan president and chief executive officer Makoto Uchida. "With electric versions of our core European models on the way, we are accelerating towards a new era for Nissan, for industry and for our customers. The EV36Zero project puts our Sunderland plant, Britain's biggest ever car factory, at the heart of our future vision. It means our U.K. team will be designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles of the future, driving us towards an all-electric future."

Nissan's investment comes in the same week as the U.K. government--which is supporting the projects--revealed major funding for the U.K. automotive industry's switch to EVs and creating a battery manufacturing base. It was welcomed by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said, "Nissan's investment is a massive vote of confidence in the UK's automotive industry, which already contributes a massive £71 billion (US$90 billion) a year to our economy. This venture will no doubt secure Sunderland's future as the U.K.'s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing. We will continue to back businesses like Nissan to expand and grow their roots in the U.K. every step of the way."

Nissan's investment is an important boost for the U.K.'s ambitions to attract more EV and battery companies, something it has failed to do as well as many of its European neighbors in recent years. It is one of a number of wins for the country in recent months, which included Tata Group's (Mumbai, India) decision to build a £4 billion (US$5.1 billion) gigafactory to supply batteries for EVs.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).