Nissan in Talks Over UK Electric Car Battery Factory: Report
The discussions are part of a post-Brexit plan to make Sunderland the group’s largest high-volume electric vehicle site outside Japan, according to the business paper.
London : Japanese carmaker Nissan is in “advanced” talks with the government over a new electric car battery factory in northeast England, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
The discussions are part of a post-Brexit plan to make Sunderland the group’s largest high-volume electric vehicle site outside Japan, according to the business paper.
Citing people briefed on the talks, the FT said the proposed plant at Nissan’s existing Sunderland facility would be run by Chinese battery supplier Envision AESC.
The facility would support the production of 200,000 battery cars per year and provide thousands of jobs, it added.
A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) spokesperson did not confirm the project but stressed its commitment to the industry, saying officials “continue to work closely with investors and vehicle manufacturers”.
BEIS also pointed to a “major investment programme” of £500 million ($708 million, 578 million euros) recently pledged by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to support the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains.
Britain plans to ban sales of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030, as it aims for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
That means the country’s largely foreign-owned car manufacturing sector must switch to producing fully-electric cars.
Meanwhile, a Nissan spokesman told AFP that it had no plans to announce immediately, saying only that Sunderland had “a pioneering role in developing the electric vehicle market”.
The carmaker established Britain’s first electric vehicle and battery production at Sunderland in 2013 with its Leaf car.
However, Nissan’s largest European factory was plagued with uncertainty after Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
The Japanese firm had warned that a no-deal Brexit would threaten the site, which also manufactures Juke and Qashqai cars.
But Nissan committed in January to its future after Johnson finally clinched a Brexit trade deal with the bloc.
Britain’s largely foreign-owned automotive sector was a big winner from the final Brexit agreement, which allows for tariff-free trade with the continent.
Source: AFP
