Only batteries have the power to save British carmaking

Nissan's gigafactory' in Sunderland must be the first of many sites if the UK is to compete in the electric vehicle era

The British government's 100m-plus commitment to secure Nissan's battery gigafactory for Sunderland has been like gadget-shopping on Amazon writ large: splurging on some new technology that has suddenly become essential - and then being immediately prompted to buy another six.

This time, though, duplicating the spending looks more sensible. More gigafactories - or plain old big battery factories - are not essential for the UK to transition to using electric vehicles (EVs). But they certainly will be if Britain hopes to keep making, selling and exporting its own cars.