Three is the magic number as Nissan shows all-out commitment to electric vehicles

NISSAN is charging ahead with its vision for a zero emissions future, with confirmation that all three models made at its vast Sunderland plant will go 100% electric.

Today’s announcement means the EV36Zero hub in Sunderland – Nissan’s blueprint for future manufacturing – will consist of three electric vehicles (EVs), three gigafactories and up to £3bn investment.

That’s fantastic news for Nissan’s 7,000 UK employees and the 30,000 jobs supported in the UK supply chain.

Not only does the transformational project include future all-electric versions of Nissan’s flagship Qashqai and JUKE crossovers, but Nissan is also confirming that the third vehicle planned for UK production will be the next-generation Nissan LEAF, the car that originally sparked the electrification of the automotive industry.

Both vehicle and battery manufacturing will be powered by the EV36Zero Microgrid, which will incorporate the wind and solar farms at Nissan and will have the capability to deliver 100% renewable electricity to Nissan and its neighbouring suppliers.

Announcing the plans to colleagues at the Sunderland plant, Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida said: “Exciting, electric vehicles are at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon neutrality. With electric versions of our core European models on the way, we are accelerating towards a new era for Nissan, for industry and for our customers.

“The EV36Zero project puts our Sunderland plant, Britain’s biggest ever car factory, at the heart of our future vision. It means our UK team will be designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles of the future, driving us towards an all-electric future for Nissan in Europe.”

The announcement follows Nissan’s confirmation that all its new cars in Europe from now will be fully electric, and that it expects its passenger car line-up in Europe to be 100% electric by 2030. 

It also builds on Nissan’s Ambition 2030 vision to become a truly sustainable company, driving towards a cleaner, safer, and more inclusive world.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s automotive industry, which already contributes a massive £71 billion a year to our economy. This venture will no doubt secure Sunderland’s future as the UK’s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing.”

Despite his warm words, the Prime Minister has recently watered down previous Government commitments on electric vehicles, by delaying a ban on new petrol and diesel cars by five years, to 2035.

That decision had a knock-on effect on the number of electric vehicles expected to be sold in the UK by 2027.

The government’s independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, predicts that just 38% of new vehicles sold in the UK in 2027 would be electric, lower than the 67% it predicted in March.

That, however, has had no effect on Nissan’s ambitions – the company announcing in September that it would not change its timetable and would stick to manufacturing electric vehicles only, by 2030.

The firm’s boss Makoto Uchida said at the time it was the right thing to do for its business, customers and for the planet.

THREE NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Nissan’s latest investment includes up to £1.12bn into its UK operations and wider supply chain for R&D and manufacturing of the two new models announced, including facility and manufacturing process improvements, skills training, and tooling for suppliers. 

This follows the £423m investment announced by Nissan in the first phase of EV36Zero for the first future EV.

These three new electric vehicles represent the future for all three models currently manufactured in Nissan Sunderland Plant:

• Nissan Qashqai – the original crossover, the UK’s best-selling car of 2022 and which represents one in five of all cars built in the UK.
• Nissan JUKE – the rule-breaking compact crossover which has sold more than one million units.
• Nissan LEAF – the world’s first mass-market EV, of which more than a quarter of a million have been built in Sunderland.

The three future models will be inspired by three exciting all-electric concept models, two of which were recently unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show:

• The Nissan Hyper Urban Concept, a crossover EV characterized by a sleek and modern aesthetic.
• The Nissan Hyper Punk Concept, an all-electric compact crossover with an exterior aesthetic defined by multifaceted and polygonal surfaces.
• The Nissan Chill-Out Concept, unveiled in 2021 and previously confirmed as the inspiration for a future EV to be built in Sunderland.