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Report: Nissan-NEC JV to Begin Mass Production of Li-Ion Batteries for EVs in 2009
9 May 2008
The Nikkei reports that the Nissan Motor - NEC Corporation 50-50 joint venture for lithium-ion batteries—Automotive Energy Supply Corp. (earlier post)—will begin mass production of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles next spring. A new production plant in Kanagawa Prefecture is expected eventually to roll out enough batteries for 60,000 electric cars each year.
AESC is to first set up a new production line at an existing Nissan plant in Kanagawa Prefecture. This line will be able to produce enough lithium ion batteries for 10,000 electric vehicles a year staring in the spring of 2009. The new factory is to be built at the same site. Once the new facility begins operations, the annual output capacity will be enough batteries for 60,000 electric cars, or 120,000 hybrids.
Nissan reportedly will boost its stake in AESC to 51% when AESC increases its capital.
AESC will ship batteries to Nissan as well as the automaker’s French partner, Renault SA. Nissan and Renault plan to sell electric cars in Japan and the US starting in 2010. Renault will also reportedly use the AESC battery in its work with Project Better Place in countries where that initiative is taking hold. (Earlier post.) The batteries are to be sold to other domestic and foreign automakers as well.
Last week, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said the company is preparing to take advantage of a “mass market” in electric vehicles he expects to emerge by 2012.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Renault-Nissan Alliance is considering using lithium-ion batteries from A123Systems in its forthcoming electric vehicle projects in addition to those from AESC. (Earlier post.)
(A hat-tip to Scott!)
May 9, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
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Sounds pretty big to me. This is a large player putting its full weight to this.
Good to see that several big car companies are now rushing their EVs to the market. (GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan).
I am wondering what Toyota and Honda are doing regarding EVs. Seemingly nothing yet, even though both have considerable expertise (e.g. RAV4EV).
Posted by: sola | May 9, 2008 11:22:12 AM
Feels good to read that more major players will produce improved lithium batteries and BEVs.
Even if BEVs are the ultimate solution, there may be room for PHEVs for many applications and/or until such times as batteries cost are much lower and their capacity have been improved to the equivalent of 500+ Km per charge.
Honda and Toyota are smart players and they are certainly looking at both solutions. They both have excellent close connection with major battery manufacturing facilities. Chinese, Korean and Indian car manufacturers will also set up similar alliances. BYD China is another recent example.
Will USA's Big-3 forge close alliances or buy out promissing battery manufacturers? Can lithium battery packs be competitively built in USA or Canada? If so, it is the right time for major investments in new fully automated large plants. Retrofitting a few surplus car plants may be one of the solution. Not much (certainly not enough) is presently being done.
Posted by: Harvey D | May 9, 2008 12:04:50 PM
Y'know, it's news like this that gives me confidence about the future of alt-fuel cars than lip service about EVs coming to a showroom at a certain date.
Since North American Nissan is more about sports cars and trucks, I really don't have much faith in Nissan when it says it would sell EVs to the public in 2012. This announcement certainly gives them more credibility in my book.
Posted by: Charles S | May 9, 2008 1:28:00 PM
Well it is still all just talk. Remember, it isnt over till the fat lady sings. During the race, there will always be hype and hoopla about this and that. He say, she say, ands, ifs, and buts. Talk, talk, talk, talk, and still more talk yet. I have yet to see a report on a electric car that is 100% electric, deliver at lest 80% of what the maker claims, and most of all, be in the normal range of auto prices around 15-25k sticker price that 80% of the american public can afford to buy today.
A lot of people I notice get excited over this stuff but the way I see it is like this. Cars that are 100% electric cost about 100k or more to buy and wont be delivered untill next year. I don't have that much, cant get that kind of doe and my boss wont wait a year for me to show up at work. heehaaha.
Now, hybrids. Ele/gas or E-85, or biofuels. Still you cant find such fuels at every fuel station, only here and there. Also they cost way to much to buy on a regular wage/salary income after all your bills. Loans and credit is getting harder everyday to get.
Gasoline is running away with it self in price. What they need is a small, LOW PRICED, daily commuter car that can reach at lest 80-100 miles/day.
I think what they need to do is make the batteries single celled so they can be pulled and replaced at a station with a new/fresh charged cell. I think this could be made to be as simple and easy as filling up at the pump is. As simple as buying a 2 liter bottle of soda in the station.
Being only 2 cells per unit, it would be light to handle, and if each cell was made to be plug/unplugable like a car pull-out radio, then this would make this idea really simple and easy to do by anyone.
The plus side of this is that each used cell could be recycled apon trading it in as part of the cost of the new one or to get a refund on a deposit like plastic bottles and cans.
Posted by: Ross | May 9, 2008 4:33:05 PM
Recently Renault and Nissan signed on to "Project Better Place." The project"s major goal is to make Israel and Denmark free from fossil fuels in ten years by using solar and renewable energy to charge BEVs. PHEVs will not be needed because there will be a grid connection at every parking place in both nations to recharge the cars and when extended range is needed, robots will change out the batteries within five minutes. Renault supplies the chassis and Nissan, the batteries. I suspect the partnership between NEC and Nissan is a direct tie-in to this project.
While other countries are switching over to clean energy and nonpolluting car, We are still arguing about whether GHGs are a scientific truth and how we can keep using dirty coal. Greed trumps good sense in our country every time and it's damn sad!
Posted by: Lad | May 9, 2008 5:40:59 PM
Amazing, that's got to be one of the biggest battery factories in the world. 60,000 cars at at least 20 kWh per car means over a million kWh of lithium-ion batteries per year.
That's a huge investment (and vote of confidence in the technology).
Posted by: clett | May 10, 2008 2:38:06 AM
I think they will sell every battery they make and more..
Posted by: Herm | May 10, 2008 5:13:38 AM
I tend to believe a claim from Nissan more so than some "other" auto manufacturers. I drive a Nissan Altima Hybrid, my first Nissan. It is a great car that practically no one knows exists. They purchased the drive technology from Toyota and brought a hybrid to market very fast. They don't advertise it much, and only sell it in 8 states. When I purchased the car in January, the sales guy actually knew something about hybrids! He explained that the technology was leased from Toyota, but more amazingly, he said "Come back in 3 years or so and I'll take your car in trade for a PHEV, that is where Nissan is heading, and this time it will be our design".
So it seems while companies like GM can't wait to have a press release every time they have a brain fart, Nissan is quietly working behind the scenes to get something to market.
Posted by: steve | May 10, 2008 5:51:25 AM
Harvey D, you've mentioned automated assembly plants for North America several times and it makes good sense. The market for these 10-20kWh batteries is skyrocketing and is at this point the heart of the BEV. So it seems that the Big Three should be moving to build domestic assembly - if only to service the military market near term.
Steve, I wouldn't give GM sh*t for being open and accessible about their electrics since that's what greenies whine about - no access. Would there be the groundswell we're getting without that? And the Altima hybrid is Toyota electrics and CVT stuffed inside an old Altima body. Not much on innovation.
These battery announcements, especially those with A123 will help everyone drive down prices. The more contracts A123 gets, the better the pricing for Volts, Nissans, Renault, etc.
Posted by: sulleny | May 10, 2008 11:06:15 AM
sulleny, I'm not giving GM #^%$ about being open, but rather for their ad campaigns touting them as the greenest thing since the Jolly Green Giant, and then capturing a minuscule percentage of the market. And I'm full aware that Nissan purchased the technology from Toyota, I mentioned it in my post. But the fact remains they put something on the market, at a loss, to at least provide a bridge to their new offerings. I applaud them for not touting themselves in ad campaigns, but rather working behind the scenes to get something on the market. With regard to stuffing new technology "inside an old Altima body". Why on earth would they redesign a great selling car around a hybrid? To make it more expensive? They needed to place this platform on a popular platform to make it even close to being cost effective.
Do you realize the Nissan only sells the hybrid in 8 states, under one label, and still outsells GM in hybrids?
Posted by: steve | May 11, 2008 8:00:49 AM
Steve,
true the GM advertising may be over done compared to the sales figures. But it is in the best interest for all that automakers are aware of green desire. Prius has proved there is a significant appetite for green vehicles. That the other players have not got it right yet has mostly to do with the late start. All that changes in a couple years when the first real PHEVs come to market and buyers are desperate for alternatives.
And IMO part of the reason Prius has done so well and the other hybrids struggle - is the retrofits don't meet consumer expectations. They want to see a whole new vehicle - not the same vehicle with new stuff under the hood. Shallow? Yeah. But around here, you are what you drive...still.
Posted by: sulleny | May 11, 2008 11:20:11 AM
