Nissan ‘planning huge EV battery factory in Sunderland’ says FT

According to a report from the FT, Nissan are planning a battery gigafactory in Sunderland to produce 200,000 battery packs a year.

Back in January, Nissan revealed that rather than pulling away from the UK post-Brexit, they considered the trade deal the UK made with the EU a real opportunity and would be adding production of 62kWh batteries in Sunderland to the already-produced 40kWh batteries.

But it seems Nissan has plans that go way beyond that, with the FT reporting Nissan are in talks with the UK government seeking assistance to build a big new battery gigafactory next to their Sunderland Plant.

The new battery plant would be run by Nissan’s Chinese battery partner Envision AESC – which already makes batteries in Sunderland for Nissan – with the new factory capable of churning out 200,000 battery packs a year and delivering thousands of new jobs to the area in the process.

If the report is right, the new battery plant will be producing 6GWh initially, rising to 20GWh when the project is completed, and make Sunderland Nissan’s biggest EV hub outside Japan.

In a statement to the BBC, Nissan said: