Nissan commits to make 3 future electric vehicles in the UK for the European market and beyond.
Nissan has just announced that three models made at its Sunderland plant in the UK will go 100% electric. The first is already electric – the familiar Nissan LEAF, which was the world’s first mass market EV, of which more than a quarter of a million have been built in Sunderland. The 3rd generation Leaf will continue to be made there. The second and third vehicles are more noteworthy – one being the Qashqai and the other being the Juke. Both will be offered as electric vehicles in the near future for the European market.
Interestingly, we might already have a sneak preview into what the next generation Lead, Juke EV and Qashqai EVs look like. Apparently the Japan Mobility Show concepts as well as a 2021 “Nissan Chill-Out Concept” will be motivating the design considerations for these models. Our guess is that the Nissan Chill-Out will be the crossover LEAF gen 3. The Hyper Punk looks small enough to pass as a next-gen Juke while the Hyper Urban Concept would work well as a Qashqai replacement with some tweaks.
Nissan confirmed that all its NEW cars introduced in Europe from now on will be fully electric and its current line-up will go full electric by 2030 which is part of the company’s Ambition 2030 vision to become a truly sustainable company. Nissan will have the capability to produce their cars in the UK using 100% renewable electricity thanks to investments made by the Sunderland City Council and the UK government. The car brand also has a new 20MW solar farm supplying the grid as well as other solar and wind farms.
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.
“Making the UK the best place to do business is at the heart of our economic plan. We will continue to back businesses like Nissan to expand and grow their roots in the UK every step of the way as we make the right long term decisions for a brighter future.”
