Thanks to Nissan, the U.K. has become a European center for the manufacturing of electric cars.
Nissan has made the decision to produce its eco-friendly, all-electric Leaf model at its U.K.’s production plant in Sunderland. In the next year it will invest 420 million pounds ($630 million) on setting up new production lines that will start rolling off up to 50,000 electric vehicles per year starting in 2013.
As part of the guarantee, U.K.’s government is funding the project with a 20.7 million pound ($31 million) grant and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will finance up to 197 million pounds ($295 million).
The British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, has welcomed the news and expressed his enthusiasm for making U.K. as the place for green energy projects.
“This investment is a fantastic vote of confidence in the Sunderland plant and its excellent workforce. The automotive sector is of key importance to the U.K. It supports R&D, technological innovation, skills and a supply chain that’s a mainstay of the wider manufacturing sector,” he said in a statement. “Today’s news from Nissan, with support from government, shows that by working together we can achieve our aim of making the U.K. a world-leader in ultra-low carbon vehicles,” he added.
Despite the fact that over the last decades, U.K.’s auto industry has experienced many setbacks as it was almost entirely sold out to either U.S., German, or Japanese auto giants, the British government has managed to keep most of the production within the country.
The initiation of producing the Leaf in the U.K. has shown again and again the strong resolve from the British government to support its workforce in the auto industry during hard times. By signing the Leaf deal with Nissan, the Sunderland plant will safeguard 2,250 jobs, therefore keeping the “small Detroit” of U.K. as the number one car-producing city in the country.
Nissan is also very excited about the strong support from the U.K. government who is sponsoring this endeavoring project wholeheartedly.
“Thanks to the U.K.’s firm commitment to a low-carbon future in terms of infrastructure, customer incentives and educational programs, Nissan Leaf will be built at Sunderland, making the U.K. the third country in the world to produce this revolutionary car,” said Andy Palmer, senior vice president at Nissan in a release.
“The world is at the dawn of a new era in automotive transport. Nissan Leaf, which will go on sale this year, is a five-seater hatchback that offers the same space, practicality, and performance of a similar car in its class—minus the tailpipe emissions,” he added.
At the moment Sunderland would be the third production plant for the revolutionary Leaf. The first one in Oppama, Japan will start producing Leafs this year, followed by a factory in Smyrna, Tennessee that will start producing in 2012.
Besides the car production lines, Nissan in cooperation with Renault will also open a new lithium-ion battery production site next month in Sunderland, releasing around 60,000 battery units per year.
To support the electric vehicle’s launch, the U.K. government is working hard to set up a regional network of charging points.
“The charging infrastructure is being developed all the time, spearheaded by the Government’s national ‘Plugged in Places’ scheme, a 30 million pounds ($45 million) initiative to install a charging network in up to six ‘trailblazing’ cities,” said a spokesman from Nissan.
“It’s true there is more work to do ahead of Leaf’s introduction, but this is a situation that’s improving. We’re confident there will be sufficient charging point—together with home charging—for Leaf to succeed in the U.K. from launch,” he added.
According to Nissan, the estimated costs of driving the Leaf would be $2.7 per 62 miles. The battery range is around 100 miles and the Leaf’s top speed is 90 m.p.h.
Besides Nissan’s Leaf, the U.K. has received an additional investment of 1.5 billion pounds ($2.25 billion) from Ford Motor Co. to produce new generation of eco-friendly engines and another 750 million pounds ($1.1 billion) from McLaren Formula 1 team that will launch its new MP4-12C supercar and its other unspecified models.
Adding up Nissan, Ford, and McLaren investments, the U.K. is racing full speed ahead with its new eco-friendly auto industry.
Nissan has made the decision to produce its eco-friendly, all-electric Leaf model at its U.K.’s production plant in Sunderland. In the next year it will invest 420 million pounds ($630 million) on setting up new production lines that will start rolling off up to 50,000 electric vehicles per year starting in 2013.
As part of the guarantee, U.K.’s government is funding the project with a 20.7 million pound ($31 million) grant and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will finance up to 197 million pounds ($295 million).
The British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, has welcomed the news and expressed his enthusiasm for making U.K. as the place for green energy projects.
“This investment is a fantastic vote of confidence in the Sunderland plant and its excellent workforce. The automotive sector is of key importance to the U.K. It supports R&D, technological innovation, skills and a supply chain that’s a mainstay of the wider manufacturing sector,” he said in a statement. “Today’s news from Nissan, with support from government, shows that by working together we can achieve our aim of making the U.K. a world-leader in ultra-low carbon vehicles,” he added.
Keeping Production at Home
Despite the fact that over the last decades, U.K.’s auto industry has experienced many setbacks as it was almost entirely sold out to either U.S., German, or Japanese auto giants, the British government has managed to keep most of the production within the country.
The initiation of producing the Leaf in the U.K. has shown again and again the strong resolve from the British government to support its workforce in the auto industry during hard times. By signing the Leaf deal with Nissan, the Sunderland plant will safeguard 2,250 jobs, therefore keeping the “small Detroit” of U.K. as the number one car-producing city in the country.
Nissan is also very excited about the strong support from the U.K. government who is sponsoring this endeavoring project wholeheartedly.
“Thanks to the U.K.’s firm commitment to a low-carbon future in terms of infrastructure, customer incentives and educational programs, Nissan Leaf will be built at Sunderland, making the U.K. the third country in the world to produce this revolutionary car,” said Andy Palmer, senior vice president at Nissan in a release.
“The world is at the dawn of a new era in automotive transport. Nissan Leaf, which will go on sale this year, is a five-seater hatchback that offers the same space, practicality, and performance of a similar car in its class—minus the tailpipe emissions,” he added.
Hotbed of Green Vehicles
At the moment Sunderland would be the third production plant for the revolutionary Leaf. The first one in Oppama, Japan will start producing Leafs this year, followed by a factory in Smyrna, Tennessee that will start producing in 2012.
Besides the car production lines, Nissan in cooperation with Renault will also open a new lithium-ion battery production site next month in Sunderland, releasing around 60,000 battery units per year.
To support the electric vehicle’s launch, the U.K. government is working hard to set up a regional network of charging points.
“The charging infrastructure is being developed all the time, spearheaded by the Government’s national ‘Plugged in Places’ scheme, a 30 million pounds ($45 million) initiative to install a charging network in up to six ‘trailblazing’ cities,” said a spokesman from Nissan.
“It’s true there is more work to do ahead of Leaf’s introduction, but this is a situation that’s improving. We’re confident there will be sufficient charging point—together with home charging—for Leaf to succeed in the U.K. from launch,” he added.
According to Nissan, the estimated costs of driving the Leaf would be $2.7 per 62 miles. The battery range is around 100 miles and the Leaf’s top speed is 90 m.p.h.
Besides Nissan’s Leaf, the U.K. has received an additional investment of 1.5 billion pounds ($2.25 billion) from Ford Motor Co. to produce new generation of eco-friendly engines and another 750 million pounds ($1.1 billion) from McLaren Formula 1 team that will launch its new MP4-12C supercar and its other unspecified models.
Adding up Nissan, Ford, and McLaren investments, the U.K. is racing full speed ahead with its new eco-friendly auto industry.
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