Britain is to get its first “gigafactory” producing batteries for electric vehicles at Nissan’s Sunderland car plant as part of a £1bn vote of confidence in the UK’s post-Brexit car industry.
The Japanese company has confirmed a £423m investment in Britain’s biggest car plant to start production of a new electric vehicle at the site.
To support the new model, Chinese battery producer Envision-AESC is spending £450m building a battery factory next door, which will deliver power packs for the vehicle.
A further £80m of investment led by Sunderland council will create a “microgrid” of solar and wind farms to power the energy-intensive factories with green power with the system utilising batteries from old electric vehicles to create a stable flow of power.
It is understood the taxpayer is providing funding to support the investments, tapping its £500m war chest to transform Britain's car industry from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric ones.
About 1,650 jobs will be created at Nissan and the new gigafactory, and a further 4,500 roles are expected to be added in the supply chain.
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