Nissan to create EV hub worth $1.4 billion in UK, will roll out new crossover

Nissan has unveiled its plans to launch first gigafactory to manufacture electric vehicles as well as EV batteries. The new facility, which will cost the Japanese carmaker one billion pounds (roughly converted to ₹1.02 lakh crore and $1.4 billion) will come up in Sunderland in United Kingdom.

Nissan has announced that it will spend up to 423 million pounds (roughly converted to ₹4,349 crore) on an all-electric vehicle. Nissan's Chinese battery supplier Envision AESC will invest another 450 million pounds to build the battery plant that will be run on renewable energy and power up to 100,000 Nissan electric vehicles per year.

"This is a landmark day for Nissan, our partners, the UK and the automotive industry as a whole," Nissan's Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta said at the unveiling of the EV36Zero project in Sunderland.

UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson prasied Nissan's move which promises to create 6,200 jobs. Earlier, Nissan had warned that a no-deal Brexit would threaten its 35-year-old Sunderland factory.

"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," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

The facility will be built next to Nissan's largest European factory in Sunderland. Nissan has also announced that its new electric crossover will be built in Sunderland and will be based on the Alliance CMF-EV platform shared by partners Renault and Mitsubishi.

The plant is expected to be completed by 2024 and is part of Nissan's broader plan for a full switch to electric propulsion. It seems that Nissan's goal is to make the UK the largest production hub outside of Japan.

Nissan had earlier announced plans for the expansion of the plant in Sunderland, where the current production capacity is 1.9GWh, which is initially expected to increase to 6GWh to finally reach 20GWh with the production of 200,000 batteries per year in 2024. However, according to reports, Nissan has agreed multi-million pound financial support from the British government to ensure the low operating costs of the plant, which is expected to create at least 2,000 new jobs.