LONDON, July 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received a much needed read more electric jolt. On Thursday $21 billion Japanese automaker Nissan Motor (7201.T) pledged to invest $1.4 billion to build a giant car battery factory, with an initial capacity of 9 gigawatt-hours a year. That’s more than triple the UK’s current capacity.

Johnson claimed “a major vote of confidence” in post-Brexit Britain. But it’s a drop in the pond compared to the 49 GWh of capacity in the rest of Europe, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. The Nissan factory will provide the juice for 100,000 battery-powered rides a year. That’s less than one-tenth of the UK’s pre-pandemic car production, over half of which is currently exported to the European Union.

The shortfall matters because by 2027 British-made cars destined for the EU must source 55% of their value from the UK or EU to avoid tariffs. Batteries account for up to half of a car’s value. When it comes to keeping exports motoring, Johnson is barely out of first gear. (By Christopher Thompson)

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