Nissan has announced that Sunderland, UK has been selected as a another production centre for the all-electric LEAF and that production will begin in 2013 alongside the Nissan Juke. Sunderland will join Oppama, Japan and Smyrna, Tennessee in producing the emissions-free vehicle. Production in Japan will start later this year followed by the US in 2012.
Nissan also said that the construction of its lithium-ion battery plant in Sunderland will kick start next month and will initiate its operation in 2012 where it will produce batteries for both Nissan and Renault.
Both projects in the UK demands more than 420 million GBP of capital injection which will be supported by by a 20.7 million GBP Grant for Business Investment (GBI) from the UK Government and a proposed finance package from the European Investment Bank of up to 197.3 million GBP. About 50,000 LEAFs will be rolled out each year while the battery plant will be able to output about 60,000 units per annum.
Nissan claims that the LEAF is the “world’s first affordable, mass produced zero emission car”. Its a five-seater C-segment hatchback with a range of about 160 kilometers over a full charge. It has a top speed of 140 km/h and can be recharged up to 80% in under 30 minutes using a rapid charging system.
