Review
BIGGEST FAN
Inside Nissan’s Sunderland factory where Qashqai is born every two minutes and huge wind turbines produce its energy
Nissan is on the road to making Sunderland the planet’s greenest car factory
HIGH there. It’s me. Sat on top of a 249ft wind turbine like a trainee Fred Dibnah.
It’s wet and windy up here. Properly windy.
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The turbine is swaying from side to side like a boat.
But the bird’s eye view of Britain’s No1 car plant — and the carpet of countryside stretching for miles around — was definitely worth the potential code brown.
Why am I here?
Because 20 per cent of the energy used to build Nissan’s Qashqai, Juke and Leaf comes from wind and solar.
Decent.
But that’s just the start. Nissan is well on the road to making Sunderland the planet’s greenest car factory.
Qashqai is jewel in the crown
By 2030, the mega-selling Qashqai and Juke will become electric only, like Leaf.
Batteries will be assembled at one of three gigafactories next door.
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A new microgrid incorporating the existing wind and solar farms will have the capability to produce all the energy the car and battery plants need.
A total ecosystem, then.
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Now some might argue that being kind to the planet with responsible manufacturing is one thing. But who’s paying for it?
If families can’t afford the extra cost of an EV, they’ll buy a petrol something or other instead.
KEY FACTS: NISSAN JUKE N-SPORT
- Price: £31,995
- Engine: 1.6-litre petrol hybrid
- Power: 143hp
- 0-62mph: 10.1 secs
- Top speed: 103mph
- Economy: 58mpg
- CO2: 109g/km
- Out: Now
Bosses promised battery costs will be lower by 2030, putting Nissan EVs in the same price bracket as petrols. I’ll keep reminding them of that. Now for some Gregg Wallace-style “Inside The Factory” facts.
Sunderland started out building Bluebird in 1986 and has now topped 11 MILLION cars. One in three UK-built cars is made right here in the North East — more than 400,000 a year — with a new Qashqai born every TWO MINUTES.
Qashqai is the crown jewel. The do-it-all SUV continues to set records as the fastest car to one, two, three and four million units.
Line them up end to end and they would stretch from Sunderland to Mount Fuji.
Now a smarter, more sophisticated Qashqai with built-in Google has started rolling out of the factory gates, priced from £30k.
You might notice the more distinctive front end and body-coloured wheel arches.
Juke was refreshed in February (see road test, right) and the factory is now busy preparing for the next-gen Leaf, due early 2025.
Another thing that impresses is the pride and precision of the 6,000 people who work here — exactly the reason why the Japanese continue to invest billions futureproofing the plant.
You are born either red and white or black and white in these parts.
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But absolutely everyone is backing Nissan’s green team.
- THANK you to Jason and Gary for guiding me up and down the turbine. It’s a bit like abseiling inside a giant straw. Yes, I will leave a review on TripAdvisor and, yes, I will buy a mug on the way out. Lads.
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GOING UP
JUKE buyers are going up in the world too.
The popular bug-eyed crossover has been updated with an improved cabin, more tech, and a banana-yellow paint job, which you lot asked for.
The cheapest Juke is the 1-litre plain petrol at £25k. Good car. But we really like the petrol hybrid from £29k.
Let the auto gearbox do its thing and life is smooth and easy, and it drinks more slowly than Uncle Barry when it’s his round next. The hybrid is also quieter than the plain petrol – and more powerful.
It does 0-62mph nearly two seconds quicker.
The steering is sharp and the cornering terrier-like.
This top-spec N-Sport trim has a bigger 12in touchscreen, wireless charging pad for a smartphone and Bose headrest speakers. Class.
I’ve long wondered why car speakers are positioned down by our feet not by our lugholes.
Factory boost 2
THE Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port turns 60 this week.
Home to Viva, Chevette and seven generations of Astra over the years, it recently had a £100million upgrade to make small electric vans.
The first Viva HA cost £468. Ken Dodd watched the millionth car roll off the line.
James Hunt starred in Chevette adverts after Vauxhall/Bedford supplied his Hesketh F1 team with support vehicles.
But Astra was the daddy, chalking up four of the five million vehicles produced at the Cheshire plant.
Now Ellesmere Port builds the Vauxhall Combo Electric and sister vans for Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat.