Nissan Takes Its Place In The Electric Race
In an attempt to make headway in the race to become the industry leader in electric vehicles, Nissan Motor Co. along with the NEC Corp., will invest 115 million dollars in the mass production of batteries for fuel-cell, hybrid, and electric vehicles. Nissan is joining the race slightly slower than its rivals Honda Motor Co, and Toyota Motor Corp., but now aim strongly to produce vehicles with zero emission with a push into advanced lithium-ion batteries.
As gas prices soar, Japanese automobile manufacturers have begun to invest in a wide variety of efficient, environmentally friendly technologies. Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s executive vice president claims, “Our vision for a more sustainable future is clear. Nissan firmly believes the ultimate solution for sustainable mobility lies in zero emission.” He reported that the breakthrough in technology lies in electric vehicles, and that Nissan is ready to supply batteries to any company interested in the technology.
The Automotive Energy Supply Corp. which is owned 51 percent by Nissan and 49 percent by the NEC group was set up last year and plans to invest 115 million dollars in producing 65,000 lithium-ion batteries by 2009 at a Nissan facility in Kanagawa Prefecture southwest of Tokyo. Another 105 million dollars will go toward creation of a new assembly line to produce components for the batteries which will be installed in Japanese forklifts next year.
The lithium-ion batteries, which are much smaller than their nickel-metal hydride counterparts, will be used in an electric vehicle which will be launched in Japan and the U.S. in 2010, and mass-marketed globally by 2012.
Due to problems regarding short battery life in electric vehicles, the cars have failed to break into the mainstream before now. It has long been an inventor’s dream, but it has lacked practicality. Automakers have also shown caution toward using lithium-ion batteries due to their likelihood to catch fire, seen frequently in laptops. After years of testing, the Automotive Energy Supply Corp. has passed all safety tests with their batteries, according to its president Masahiko Otsuka.
Both Nissan and the NEC see excellent prospects for growth of the new lithium-ion technology. According to the executive vice president of the NEC, Konosuke Kashima, “"Due to emissions control and rising oil prices, the market (for the batteries) is expected to increase to one million units in 2010 and three million in 2020.” The company has been researching the batteries for over at decade.
Those in charge at Nissan have voiced that they would conduct a study with Kanagawa authorities on the feasibility of a future project that could include tax incentives for users of the vehicles as well as an electricity charging network.
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