Production of the Nissan LEAF electric car in Sunderland, England, has received a huge boost after the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it would inject £190million to support the car’s production.
The funding will go towards not only the production of the Nissan LEAF but also the lithium-ion batteries that are used to power the vehicle. The investment from the EIB is in addition to a £420million investment by Nissan itself at the Sunderland plant; and £20.7million from the UK government.
To date, Nissan has sold more than 20,000 LEAF electric cars worldwide since it went on sale last December. Take-up however, has proven sluggish in the UK where the lack of charging infrastructure has restricted sales to less than 800 through the £5,000 plug-in car grant by the end of October.
The electric car will go into production in Sunderland in 2013 and will have an initial capacity of 50,000 vehicles a year.
