The future of Sunderland’s Nissan car plant has been secured with the unveiling of a £1 billion plan to create a neighbouring battery-producing ‘gigafactory’ and produce the Japanese brand’s next EV.

The plan to create what Nissan has branded the ‘EV36Zero Electric Vehicle (EV) Hub’ is the result of a partnership which also includes funding from the UK Government and Envision AESC, which will develop the new 9GWh gigafactory.

Nissan’s plans to add to its existing Leaf production at Sunderland with its next-generation electric vehicle (EV) are expected to create 909 jobs, with a further 4,500 to be created in the supply chain as a result of the wider plan.

Of the £1bn overall investment in the Sunderland plan, Nissan would be investing up to £423m to produce a new-generation all-electric vehicle in the UK.

Envision's gigafactory will aim to produce enough batteries for 100,000 Nissan EVs each year and will create 750 new jobs and secure 300 existing roles.