Nissan has recently unveiled EV36Zero, a £1bn flagship Electric Vehicle (EV) Hub creating a world-first EV manufacturing ecosystem.

The new Gigafactory project will be located at Nissans Sunderland plant and Nissan EV36Zero will drive its change to carbon neutrality and establish a new 360-degree solution for zero-emission motoring. With an initial £1bn investment by Nissan and its partners Envision AESC and Sunderland City Council, the project brings together electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production to one location.

Makoto Uchida, Nissan President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “This project comes as part of Nissan's pioneering efforts to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the entire lifecycle of our products. Our comprehensive approach includes not only the development and production of EVs, but also the use of on-board batteries as energy storage and their reuse for secondary purposes.

“Our announcement comes out of lengthy discussions held within our teams, and will greatly accelerate our efforts in Europe to achieve carbon neutrality. The experience and know-how gained through the project announced today will be shared globally, enhancing Nissan’s global competitiveness.

“Nissan will continue to leverage its strengths in electrification to become a company that continues to provide value to its customers and society.”

These projects represent 6,200 jobs at Nissan and its UK suppliers, including more than 900 new Nissan jobs and 750 new Envision AESC jobs at its new smart, low-carbon battery plant. Longer-term, the transformational project modernises and expands Nissan’s EV production capability in the UK.

Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, said: “Nissan’s announcement to build its new-generation all-electric vehicle in Sunderland, alongside a new Gigafactory from Envision-AESC, is a major vote of confidence in the UK and our highly-skilled workers in the North East.

“Building on over 30 years of history in the area, this is a pivotal moment in our electric vehicle revolution and securing its future for decades to come.

“Commitments like these exemplify our ability to create hundreds of green jobs and boost British industry, whilst also allowing people to travel in an affordable and sustainable way so we can eliminate our contributions to climate change.”

As part of the announcement, Nissan will invest up to £423m to produce a new-generation all-electric vehicle in the UK with the product designed to be exported to the European markets traditionally served by Nissan’s Sunderland plant.

Production in Sunderland will create 909 new jobs at the plant, and more than 4,500 in the UK supply chain, while safeguarding a further 75 R&D jobs. It takes the total capital investment by Nissan into the plant past £5bn.

Envision AESC will invest £450m to build the UK’s first Gigafactory on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP), adjacent to the Nissan plant. The formal planning process is about to begin for the new Gigafactory, which represents an initial 9GWh plant, with potential future-phase investment of £1.8bn by Envision AESC, generating up to 25GWh and creating 4,500 new high-value green jobs in the region by 2030, with potential on site for up to 35GWh. The new Gigafactory will create 750 jobs and safeguard the jobs of 300 current employees.

Lei Zhang, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Envision Group, said: “We are delighted to be a part of EV36Zero with Nissan and Sunderland City Council. This commitment builds on our long-term partnership with Nissan to achieve our global ambition to make high performance, longer range batteries for EVs affordable and accessible for millions more motorists.”

Sunderland City Council is leading a project that aims to deliver a 100% renewable electricity ‘Microgrid’ that will save 55,000 tonnes of carbon annually. With the ability to incorporate the existing Nissan wind and solar farms, initial plans suggest there could be as many as ten solar farms created. This project is estimated to be an £80m investment.

Cllr Graeme Miller, Sunderland City Council leader, said: “Sunderland is an ambitious city, and the announcement is a game-changing one for us, for the region and for UK Plc, and the culmination of many months of partnership working with Nissan, Envision AESC and UK Government to ensure that we landed this transformational project.

“We’re proud to be acting as a key enabler, working to secure an £80m infrastructure project that could be the first of its kind in the UK, bringing together energy generation, consumption and storage through a dedicated microgrid.

“We have a commitment to making Sunderland as a city carbon neutral by 2040 and electrification is a key part of that vision.”