Nissan ‘in Talks to Build Huge UK Battery Factory’

Nissan ‘in talks to build huge UK battery factory’.

The Japanese company would not confirm a Financial Times story about the plans for a gigafactory, but pointed to its Sunderland plant’s crucial role in producing electric vehicles.

“We will continue to electrify our line-up,” Nissan said in a statement.

The FT said Nissan wants to make the UK its largest electric carmaking hub outside Japan.

The factory, which would be built on the existing Sunderland site, would produce 200,000 batteries a year and support thousands of jobs, the FT said.

Electric car sales are expected to soar in the next few years as the UK gets ready to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.

The measure is part of a 10-point “green industrial revolution” plan announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in November last year.

In a statement, Nissan said: Having established EV [electric vehicle] and battery production in the UK in 2013 for the Nissan Leaf, our Sunderland plant has played a pioneering role in developing the electric vehicle market.

“As previously announced, we will continue to electrify our line-up as part of our global journey towards carbon neutrality. However, we have no further plans to announce at this time.”

Last week, reports that Tesla boss Elon Musk had visited the UK sparked speculation that the billionaire was looking for a site to build his own gigafactory.

And last month, start-up Britishvolt said it had bought the site of the former Blyth Power Station in Northumberland with the intention of turning it into a gigafactory.

Britishvolt hopes to be producing enough batteries for 300,000 electric cars a year by 2027.

Plans are also under way to build a gigafactory in Coventry, next to the city’s airport.

A joint venture by the airport and the city council is seeking to raise £2bn for the project, working with local carmakers and battery suppliers to secure the investment.

Nissan ‘in talks to build huge UK battery factory’, May 26, 221