First stage of the Nissan project in Sunderland is welcome but there is a very long way to go in this ‘race’
One can’t grumble too much about ministers’ ra-ra tone over Nissan’s plans to build an electric battery plant, or gigafactory, in Sunderland as part of a £1bn project. The investment is big, the first of its kind and 6,000 jobs are promised. Milking the moment is fair.
We don’t know precisely how much public money has been promised but, if the rumoured £100m is correct, the figure doesn’t sound widely different from what other European governments are throwing around to secure high-profile electric vehicle investments. Everyone’s at it.
