Sunderland plant manufactures Nissan LEAF
Car manufacturer Nissan is producing the first high-volume electric car in the UK since 2020.
An investment of £450mln into production of the Nissan LEAF electric vehicle (EV) at the company’s Wearside plant in Sunderland is expected to support 6,000 jobs and boost economic growth in the North East and the UK more widely.
Over £300mln of this will go directly into the firm’s UK operations.
Across the road from the Wearside plant, the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) has also opened a 12GWh gigafactory to supply batteries for Nissan, strengthening the domestic supply chain.
This is alongside the UK Government’s £4bln investment in the automotive sector as part of its modern Industrial Strategy.
The investment aims to accelerate the electrification of vehicle plants and investment in batteries, electric motors and power electronics.
The government has worked closely with Nissan and their partners to transform Sunderland into an EV manufacturing hub, strengthening domestic EV manufacturing capabilities.
Within the Industrial Strategy, it plans to cluster EV manufacturing across growth areas. Along with the LEAF, two other regional EV supply chain pilots will be introduced in partnership with the North East and West Midlands Metro Mayors.
Under the DRIVE35 initiative, these programmes seek to strategically boost growth, enhance UK supply chain resilience and increase domestic production in the ‘transition to zero-emission’ technologies.
