Nissan is building EV battery gigafactory and expanding electric car biz in the UK

Nissan is investing $1.38 billion or £1 billion for its plans to construct a “gigafactory” in Sunderland, U.K. This was announced by the Japanese automaker on Thursday, July 1.

The massive plant will not only be beneficial for Nissan’s business, but it will definitely offer a major boost to the region’s electric vehicle plans. As per CNBC, the company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, will soon launch the project for the gigafactory called “Nissan EV36Zero.”

Nissan to focus on EV business in the UK

The automaker is building the new electric battery plant in partnership with Envision AESC. This will be the new EV hub in the UK, and with its size, it is expected to create thousands of jobs for the locals.

Nissan will open at least 1,650 new positions at the gigafactory in Sunderland City. Since this is a project supported by two companies, 900 jobs will be available for Nissan, while the remaining 750 will be for the Envision AESC.

On Thursday, Nissan’s chief operating officer, Ashwani Gupta, said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that the company’s decision to build the battery factory for electric vehicles is a move that demonstrates Nissan’s roadmap to carbon neutrality.

With its plans, Nissan joined other major auto companies that are aiming to focus on the development of batteries for EV cars. This month, Renault and Volkswagen have also expressed their intention to venture into EV batteries, and they are also building gigafactories for this business in Europe.

Nissan’s electric car expansion

BBC News added that Nissan will also invest in the production of a new generation of EVs in the United Kingdom. From the £1 billion investment, it was mentioned that £423 million will go to EV production.

Once the gigafactory is completed, Envision is expected to provide batteries for up to 100,000 Nissan EVs per year. Both Nissan and Envision are hoping that the new factory will already be operational by 2024 since the U.K. is banning the sale of petrol or diesel-powered vehicles starting in 2030.

"The key success factor for Brexit has always been trade-friendly business conditions to sustain our business not only in the UK but in the whole of Europe and thanks to Brexit, Nissan is moving forward to use Brexit as an opportunity," Gupta said.