Business Editor Andy Richardson was at the front of the queue this week as Nissan finally opened the doors of its top secret battery plant.

FIAT’S famous ‘built by robots’ advertising campaign envisioned a future when cars would roll off production lines without ever being touched by a human hand. It was anticipated that each widget, washer and layer of paint would be applied by machines.

Fast forward 35 years to Nissan Sunderland where you find an exemplar of modern manufacturing that employs 6,700 people, with more set to follow in the new year.

Car manufacturers, for the time being at least, still rely on skilled human beings.

One thing that they will always need are customers.

Nissan is bidding for the hearts, minds and wallets of motorists by positioning itself as an innovator rather than the solidly dependable company that once churned out the Micra and Sunny.

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan chief executive, is convinced that being at the vanguard of electric car and battery manufacture will help the firm to become regarded as a trend setting brand - a sort of motoring Microsoft. His strategy has been labelled as bold and ballsy, as well as a hugely expensive vanity project. In either case Sunderland is at the heart of his dream.

Three decades from now people may regard electric vehicles as a stumble on the road to discovering a genuine rival for petrol and diesel engines. But in 2014 the inside of Nissan's £200m battery plant looks thrillingly avant garde.

The ultra clean, high tech factory – one of only three of its type in the world – has remained a closely guarded secret since it began making batteries for the Leaf hatchback two years ago. Nissan was so determined to protect it from the spying eyes of rivals such as Toyota, Honda or Ford it hasn't allowed anyone other than its own employees inside until this week.

At the nerve centre is a clean room which looks more like an intensive care ward than a car factory. The temperature here is set at a constant 20 degrees and every effort is made to banish dust, dirt and moisture. Workers, who enter via air locks, must wear masks, gowns and white boots, rather than the trademark battleship grey fatigues sported by everyone from shop floor workers to management in the main plant where the Qashqai, Juke, Note and all-electric Leaf are made.

Mobile phones are left outside in lockers, and journalists wishing to take notes must use a pad and pen supplied by Nissan. Even the pen – a bog standard Bic biro – has been chosen because it is less likely to collect dust, explained our guide Jim Wilkinson, the plant manager, who spent six months in Japan learning the secrets of electric battery making before helping set up this facility, which is capable of producing 62,000 units a year. There is no sign the plant will get close to reaching that capacity any time soon. Unless you live in Oslo – the low emission vehicle capital of Europe – electric cars remain a very rare sight on roads.

The equipment inside Nissan’s battery facility cost a small fortune, but sales of electric cars remain modest. Mr Ghosn's dream is an expensive one that makes a loss for the company.

Nevertheless, Nissan bosses insist they are in it for the long haul and this week denied recent reports that the Sunderland battery plant was at risk of closure.

“We do not respond to rumours,” Jean-Pierre Diernaz , Electric Vehicle Director, Nissan Europe told The Northern Echo.

"Innovation is at the centre of Nissan's brand. We are totally committed to the electric vehicle market and we have no plans to change our investment strategy at Sunderland," said Mr Diernaz, who has been cheered by Nissan increasing its share of the electric market.

Back inside the plant Mr Wilkinson proudly shows of a fully-automated part of the production line. Has the 'made by robots' prediction finally come true? Not quite - at the end of the line is Alison, casting an expert eye over each piece. "There are some jobs where you just can't beat a human being," said our guide.