25 January 2021

Big boost for UK automotive battery technology

In recent news, Japanese car maker Nissan has confirmed that it will localise manufacture of its 62kWh battery at its plant in Sunderland. This comes as a welcome boost to UK businesses involved in the automotive supply chain in the North East, many of which the Mathys & Squire team helps to represent.

With the UK government’s commitment that all cars made by 2030 must at least be partly electric, it is clear that electric vehicles are very much part of the future. Nissan’s announcement follows hot on the heels of Britishvolt’s recent news that it would be creating the UK’s first “gigaplant”, creating up to 3,000 jobs, on the site of the former Blyth Power Station in Northumberland. Britishvolt’s £2.6bn investment is a sign of yet further confidence in the expertise and highly skilled workforce in the region.

Having been partners of the North East Automotive Alliance for several years now, and working with some highly innovative businesses in the region, such as Hyperdrive Innovation and BorgWarner, we understand first-hand the skills, expertise and innovation that are coming out of the region and are excited to be working with businesses in the North East to help protect their intellectual property in what is proving to be an international scramble for the investment of future automotive technology.