Nissan to develop all-new EV SUV, part of RM 5.7 bil investment into EV36Zero production hub

Nissan will be investing £423 million (~RM 2.4 billion) in developing an all-new electric vehicle (EV) SUV, as part of their greater £1 billion (~RM 5.7 billion) EV360 plans for the United Kingdom.

The forthcoming EV SUV will sit on the Alliance CMF-EV platform, currently utilised by the Nissan Ariya. Aside from a couple of quick teases, its launch date and specifications were not released.

Also read: All-electric Nissan Ariya debuts, 610 km range and 130 kW DC charging

However, the company says that EV SUV is "designed for global markets", and models produced in the UK will be exported to other European countries, with a forecasted production capacity of up to 100,000 units.

New EV production hub in the UK

Aside from the model, the carmaker also announced that they'll be working with battery producer Envision AESC who plans to invest £450 million (~RM 2.6 billion) to build a battery gigafactory that will be powered by renewable energy.

Set to be built on the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP), adjacent to Nissan's Sunderland plant, batteries produced here will power new Nissan EVs.

The plant will initially output 9 GigaWatt Hours (GWh), with potential future investments of £1.8 billion (~RM 10.3 billion) nudging output up to 25 GWh or even 35 GWh.

To put it in relative terms, 10 GigaWatts equates to 10 billion watts of electric power.

Nissan points out that the new plant will "increase the cost-competitiveness of EV batteries produced in the UK", including through a new Gen5 battery cell that's touted to improve range and efficiency thanks to 30% more energy density.

Also read: Tesla battery supplier to build USD 1.2 billion EV battery plant in Indonesia

Everything relies on renewable energy

The EV36Zero hub will also rely on renewable energy, expanding on Nissan's current wind and solar farms in the area to create a 'microgrid'. Initial plans suggest that there could be as many as 10 solar farms created, with an anticipated 132 MegaWatt (MW) energy generation.

A 1MW energy storage facility, utilising used car batteries to store excess energy for later use, is also in the pipeline. 

Overall, the said microgrid is expected to save 55,000 tonnes of carbon annually.