Wednesday 9 June 2010

Nissan to build electric car in UK

Car maker Nissan has given the north-east of England a boost with a decision to manufacture its fully electric car, the Leaf, at Sunderland.

Oliver Paturet, general manager of Nissan Europe's Zero Emissions Business Unit, told a London seminar on greener transport that 22,000 jobs will be created in Sunderland to manufacture the Leaf, which stands for leading, environmentally friendly, affordable and family car. Sunderland is one of three plants in the world producing the battery-powered car.

The UK will be one of the first four countries in which the Leaf will be introduced, the others being Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Nissan said that its decision to manufacture the Leaf in Sunderland was taken on the back of the UK's "firm commitment to a low-carbon future in terms of infrastructure, customer incentives and educational programmes".

The Leaf will have an average range of 100 miles and a top speed of 90mph, which Nissan claims will be sufficient for more than 90 per cent of UK car customers' daily journeys.