A major new EV battery factory is being built in Sunderland, bringing 1,000 new jobs with it. AESC, Nissan’s battery partner, is behind the £1 billion ($1.33 billion) plant, which will boost the UK’s EV battery production by six times, enough to power 100,000 electric cars annually.

The 12 GWh capacity plant, AESC’s second battery plant in Sunderland, will be powered by 100% net-zero carbon energy. That big jump in capacity helps position Britain as a global player in EV manufacturing while pushing forward the country’s net-zero goals.

The investment is getting a serious financial lift from the British government. Through a combination of support from the National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, the project is unlocking £680 million in financing from major banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, SMBC Group, Societe Generale, and BBVA, that covers the construction and operation of the battery factory. Another £320 million is coming from private investment and fresh equity from AESC. On top of all that, the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund is pitching in with £150 million in grant funding.

This deal follows closely on the heels of the new UK-US trade agreement announced a day earlier, which cuts car export tariffs from 27.5% down to 10% for up to 100,000 UK-made vehicles – nearly the total number exported last year. That move could save car companies hundreds of millions of pounds and help protect good-paying jobs in manufacturing hubs like Sunderland.

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Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves visited AESC in Sunderland, where she met with staff and local leaders to discuss what this means for the Northeast and the British car industry.

“This investment follows hot on the heels of yesterday’s landmark economic deal with the US, which will save thousands of jobs in the industry,” Reeves said.

Read more: UK unveils largest curbside EV charger installation of 6,000 ports

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It’s about the future of their jobs. Ford workers at two plants in western Germany are set to go on strike on Wednesday, their works council chief said on Monday.

Ford is facing a worker strike in Germany

In November, Ford announced it would cut around 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2027 as part of a restructuring, primarily in Germany and the UK. That’s still about 14% of its European workforce.

The American automaker said the move comes after it has incurred “significant losses” in recent years and a “highly disruptive market” with new EVs quickly gaining market share.

Ford blamed slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and a weak economic situation. It also plans to slow production at its Cologne EV plant, where the electric Explorer and Capri are built.

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Last week, IG Metall members voted in favor of “industrial action” with 93.5% of votes in favor of a strike. “Ford must act now—otherwise, we will go through with it,” said Kerstin D. Klein, Chief Representative of IG Metall Cologne-Leverkusen.

Ford is facing an influx of new competition, including Chinese EV makers like BYD. BYD’s overseas sales are surging with a fifth straight month of growth in April.

BYD even outsold Tesla in Germany last month, with 1,566 vehicles registered. In comparison, Tesla had just 855, and Ford saw 9,534 registrations.

On top of this, Ford, like most of the industry, is preparing for more disruption with Trump’s auto tariffs. After releasing Q1 earnings last week, Ford warned that the tariffs could cost up to $2.5 billion this year.

During Ford’s earnings call, CFO Sherry House said that recent EV launches in Europe, including the Explorer, Capri, and Puma Gen-E, helped more than double Model e’s wholesale volume in Q1.

After early success in the US, Ford also launched its “Power Promise” promotion in Europe, offering EV buyers a free home charger and several other perks.

Source: Reuters

Young EV startup Slate Auto is gaining significant interest from the US consumer market, just weeks after it emerged out of stealth with a bare-bones all-electric pickup. The company just announced its “Blank Slate” EV has already garnered 100,000 reservations.

It’s been just over two weeks since we reported on Slate’s official debut. Before that, much of our information was compiled from various sites on the internet and riddled with speculation. We knew the company was based in Michigan and was working on at least one BEV model, but not much else was confirmed until April 24, when Slate stepped out from behind the curtain and entered the electric pickup market.

It was then that we learned about the startup’s “Blank Slate” design, which involves a simplified all-electric pickup with over 100 accessories, plus a five-seat SUV configuration kit (seen above). We also learned that this new model is expected to start below $20,000 after US tax incentives.

Following the public launch of Slate and its flagship model, the company opened reservations with a $50 deposit. Today, a representative for Slate told Electrek that it has already hit the 100,000 reservation tally.

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Slate’s booming reservations show appetite for affordable EVs

We don’t have much else to report now, other than that Slate has secured 100,000 reservations in the 18 days since it unveiled its electric pickup. It’s an impressive milestone showing that US consumers don’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles most of the electric SUVs and pickups on the current market offer.

Instead, people want BEVs that they can afford, with the option to upgrade and customize à la carte to their liking—a strategy Slate has adopted that could help the American startup do well out of the gate. While the 100k tally is impressive, those reservations do not accurately indicate how the “Blank Slate” pickup will sell, especially since the deposit to get on the wait list is only $50.

Before the polarizing Cybertruck hit US roads, Tesla reported it had received over one million reservations, possibly quite a bit more. However, the public’s response to the production version was as cold as the steel from which it was assembled. The Cybertruck overpromised and underdelivered, arriving at MSRPs significantly higher than initially promised.

As a result, a massive majority of those reservation holders walked, and Tesla has only sold less than 50,000 to date and is sitting on a ton of inventory. This should serve as a lesson to Slate, but its counter approach to the $100k+ Cybertruck should bode well, especially if it can deliver at or near the $20k price point as advertised.

As reported last month, its “Blank Slate” EV will be sold directly to consumers and is available for reservations here. The trucks will be built in the US, with initial customer deliveries expected to begin in Q4 2026.