Nissan has started production of the third generation of its LEAF EV at its plant in Sunderland, England.

The new LEAF features a 75 kWh battery pack, and boasts a range of up to 386 miles per charge. The UK government has confirmed that the Leaf will qualify for the full £3,750 electric car grant.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant is Britain’s biggest car factory—it has 6,000 employees and a theoretical capacity of 600,000 cars a year (the factory only made 284,000 in 2024). Nissan has built 282,704 units of the LEAF at the Sunderland plant since beginning production there in 2012.

Nissan says it has invested more than £450 million in manufacturing the new LEAF, including £300 million in the company’s UK operations.

In 2023, Nissan said it was considering building two more EV models in Sunderland—perhaps replacements for the petrol Qashqai and Juke, which are made there. The Guardian reports that “Nissan has not yet made a final investment decision,” and that “sales of the new LEAF will be important in securing the future of production across the rest of the plant [and will be] vital for the future of a next-door battery factory run by the [Chinese] manufacturer AESC.”

Naturally, we wish Nissan the best of luck (and so do the company’s UK employees and local boosters), but the company will be facing some stiff headwinds. Nissan is “going through the painful process of shutting seven factories and cutting 20,000 jobs worldwide,” reports the Guardian (the Sunderland plant will not be affected by the closures). Meanwhile, the UK will be introducing a per-mile tax on plug-in vehicles in 2028, and EV advocates and auto industry trade groups fear that this could significantly cut into demand.

Sources: The Guardian, BBC, Reuters