Nissan unveils planned EV36Zero manufacturing hub

Nissan has unveiled its plan to create a EV manufacturing hub called Nissan EV36Zero centred around its Sunderland manufacturing plant in the UK.  

It has also announced plans to build an all-new global electric Crossover vehicle in the United Kingdom.

The project has launched with an initial £1bn investment by Nissan and its partners Envision AESC, a global player in battery technology, and Sunderland City Council. 

Nissan says EV36Zero brings together electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production, setting a blueprint for the future of the automotive industry. 

The project represents more than 6200 jobs at Nissan and its UK suppliers, including more than 900 new Nissan jobs and 750 new Envision AESC jobs at its new battery plant. 

Envision AESC, the battery arm of Envision Group, will deploy integrated AIoT smart technology to monitor and optimise energy consumption, manufacturing and maintenance at its new Gigafactory, enabling it to rapidly increase production and provide batteries to power up to 100,000 Nissan electric vehicles a year.

As part of the £1 billion announcement, Nissan will invest up to £423 million to produce a new-generation all-electric vehicle in the UK. 

Designed for global markets, UK production will be exported to the European markets traditionally served by Nissan’s Sunderland plant. The new crossover will be built on the Alliance CMF-EV platform, with a forecasted production capacity of up to 100,000 units to be installed.

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. 

Other production locations have not yet been confirmed. More details about the new vehicle, including pricing and technology, will be released closer to the car’s sales launch.

Envision AESC already owns and operates Europe’s first battery plant in Sunderland, established in 2012 for the localisation of Nissan LEAF battery production. The factory’s UK team has nine years’ expertise from supplying batteries to the Nissan LEAF and eNV200, having produced enough cells, modules and packs to power more than 180,000 electric vehicles in 44 countries. 

Supporting this new model allocation, Envision AESC will invest £450 million to build the UK’s first Gigafactory on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP), adjacent to the Nissan plant.

Nissan started production in Sunderland in July 1986, 35 years ago this month. Since then the plant has grown into the biggest plant in the history of the UK automotive industry, supporting 46,000 UK jobs.

Also based in the UK are Nissan’s European Design Centre in Paddington, London (NDE) and R&D Centre in Cranfield, Bedfordshire (NTCE), designing and engineering Nissan vehicles for customers across the region and beyond.

Current production in Sunderland includes the Nissan Qashqai, Juke and LEAF, most of which (70%) are exported to mainland Europe, with 20% sold in the UK and a further 10% exported to markets than span the globe, from South America to Australia, and from the Nordics to South Africa.