Hurrah! Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant has received a £100m investment

Phew. That’s the sound of yet more relief widespread across northern England. Another car plant has received welcome investment, and again it’s electric car production driving positive news for corners of the country with cause for post-Brexit concern.

Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant is following Nissan’s Sunderland factory in receiving much-needed cash to help guarantee its future. Or should we say Stellantis’s Ellesmere Port plant; Vauxhall was swallowed up by the huge car conglomerate recently, and this investment will see a bunch of electric-powered vans wearing different badges pumped out of the northwest.

“Ellesmere Port will become the first Stellantis plant to produce a solely battery-electric model, in both commercial and passenger versions, by the end of next year,” we’re told.

“This dedication to battery electric vehicles will go towards achieving the UK Government’s decision to stop sales of pure petrol and diesel engined vehicles from 2030.”

You can see the vans – and their seven-seat, windowed passenger variants – in the image above. The Vauxhall Combo-e (and its Opel Combo-e, Peugeot e-Rifter and Citroen e-Berlingo spin-offs) all ally the 134bhp motor of the Corsa-e (and chums) to a 50kWh battery. The £100m investment in Ellesmere will not only see the vans pieced together, but their battery packs too. Production starts in 2022 – fittingly the plant’s 60^th birthday – and Stellantis wants the site to be carbon neutral by the middle of the decade.

“Performance is always the trigger for sustainability and this £100million investment demonstrates our commitment to the UK and to Ellesmere Port,” says Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.

“I particularly want to thank our highly skilled, dedicated workforce for their patience and contribution; we never let them down.

“Equally, I want to thank our partners the Unite Union for their open mind set and strong cooperation and, of course, the UK Government for their continued support. Producing battery electric vehicles here will support clean, safe and affordable mobility for the citizens. Since 1903 Vauxhall has manufactured vehicles in Britain and we will continue to do so.”