Nissan is in advanced talks with the UK government to build a battery gigafactory under a post-Brexit plan to make Britain the company's largest electric car production hub outside Japan.
The new factory at Nissan's existing Sunderland site would be run by Nissan's Chinese battery maker Envision AESC, and support the production of 200,000 battery cars a year as well as thousands of jobs, according to three people briefed on the private discussions.
Talks began in earnest after Britain’s Brexit deal with the EU, and a possible announcement is currently slated for the summer, ahead of Britain hosting the COP26 climate summit this year.
Nissan wants significant financial support worth at least tens of millions of pounds from the government for the project, including a route to lower its energy costs for producing the batteries, two of the people added.
Securing gigafactory investment is crucial to support the future of Britain’s car plants, as the industry races to produce electric vehicles to comply with carbon targets, and governments across Europe compete to lure battery makers. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2021
