RECAP: How the day unfolded as Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Nissan's Sunderland plant after major £1bn investment
and live on Freeview channel 276
The car giant confirmed today, Thursday, July 1, that a new battery manufacturing facility will be created in partnership with Japan-based Envision AESC.
Envision already operates a factory near the Sunderland plant, making batteries for the Nissan Leaf.
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Hide AdThe Sunderland site is expected to open in the next few years, with support from the Government, and create jobs both directly and in Nissan’s supply chain.
Echo reporter Ryan Smith and photographer Stu Norton visited at the plant and were there as the PM took a tour of the site.
Scroll down to see how the day unfolded.
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Live: Nissan announces plans for new battery plant in Sunderland
Key Events
- Nissan unveils plans to build a huge battery factory, creating more than 1,600 new jobs in Sunderland
- Site will build batteries for electric vehicles in partnership with Japan-based Envision AESC
- Jobs will be created at factory and in supply chain.
Mr Johnson questioned over what cash incentives are going to be offered to help UK ‘catch up'
Details from when Boris Johnson was interviewed during his visit also show a focus on a question about whether the Government is going to offer more financial incentives so the UK can catch up with countries like Germany.
Mr Johnson said:
“We’ve got a billion pounds of investment here coming in from Nissan.
“This plant makes more electric vehicles than virtually anywhere else in Europe.
“It’s a fantastic vote of confidence in Sunderland, in the North East and this amazing workforce here.
“And I think it’s a very important step forward for our green industrial revolution.
“At the moment I’m driven in a variety of machines, most of which are still run on hydrocarbons.
“But I can tell you, we will be phasing it out as soon as we conveniently and economically can.
“What we must also do is make sure that we get value for money.
“And the great thing about this investment and the creation of this giga factory is, as I say, it’s going to drive down the cost of EVs not just for people who are currently buying them but so ordinary families can buy EVs as a matter of course.
“That will I think start happening in just a few years’ time.”
Downing Street spokesperson says Sunderland plans shows benefits of Brexit
Downing Street has said Nissan’s plan for a new battery plant in the UK showed the car giant was taking advantage of the opportunities offered by Brexit.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:
“Thanks to Brexit I think Nissan is moving forward to use Brexit as an opportunity.
“Nissan’s announcement today is a major vote of confidence in the UK and our highly-skilled workers in the North East.
“It is a pivotal moment in our electric vehicle revolution securing its future for decades to come.”
The spokesman said that details of UK taxpayer support for the project will be made public once due diligence on the project was complete.
“We will review our support as the project develops and due diligence takes place.
“Then it is the standard practice after this details of the award will be in the public domain which is a normal procedure and part of the process of transparency,” the spokesman said.
‘I always believed in the people of the North East’ - Prime Minister’s message to the region
The Prime Minister urged people to put the Brexit argument “behind them” when visiting Sunderland’s Nissan plant.
His comments centred on urging people to put Brexit fears to bed and said it was time for the UK to pull together.
Mr Johnson said: “I just think that we all need to put that argument behind us now and look forward to the future that this country and obviously I think those fears were wildly overdone.”