Nissan has announced a £1bn investment in Sunderland and the creation of 6,200 jobs with plans for a new electric vehicle (EV) ‘gigafactory’ alongside its partner Envision AESC, a global player in battery technology, and Sunderland City Council.
Nissan president and CEO Makoto Uchida said: “This project comes as part of Nissan’s pioneering efforts to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the entire life cycle of our products.
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“The experience and know-how gained through the project will be shared globally, enhancing Nissan’s global competitiveness.”
The investment will create more than 900 new Nissan jobs and 750 new Envision AESC jobs at its low-carbon battery plant.
Envision AESC, a producer of lithium-ion batteries for EVs, will use integrated smart technology to monitor and optimise energy consumption, manufacturing and maintenance at its new gigafactory, enabling a production increase and the capability to provide batteries to power up to 100,000 Nissan EVs a year.
Nissan started production in Sunderland in 1986 and since then the plant has grown into the biggest in the history of the UK automotive industry, supporting 46,000 UK jobs.
