Nissan Motor Co. bet on the U.K. to supercharge its European electric future on Thursday, pledging ¥153 billion with its Chinese partner to build a giant battery plant that will power 100,000 vehicles a year including a new crossover model.
Facing the most profound technological shift in a century, titans of the auto industry are racing to secure battery supply close to the factories where they will make the new, cleaner electric vehicles of the future.
Nissan's backing for the 9 gigawatt hours (GWh) plant cements its wager on the U.K. five years after the Brexit vote threatened to block off the rest of the European market.