Nissan Motor and Kobe Steel announced that Nissan plans to use Kobenable Steel for Nissan models from January 2023 onward. Kobenable steel, commercialized by Kobe Steel, reduces CO₂ emissions in the blast furnace process. (Earlier post.)

Kobe Steel will also supply Nissan with aluminum sheets made from green-aluminum raw materials. This will be the first time Kobenable Steel will be used in mass-produced vehicles.

Nissan aims to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the entire product life cycle by 2050. Since approximately 60% of a vehicle’s weight is made up of steel parts and around 10% of its weight is made up of aluminum parts, the use of green steel and green aluminum is an effective way to reduce CO₂ emissions during parts manufacturing, which is part of the vehicle’s life cycle.

Nissan models will use Kobenable Premier, which reduces 100% of CO₂ emissions during manufacturing through the mass-balance method. The specific amount of steel to be used by Nissan will be determined through further discussions.

The green aluminum raw materials purchased by Kobe Steel to produce aluminum sheets for Nissan are electrolytically smelted using only electricity generated by solar power, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions during aluminum ingot production by approximately 50%, compared to the previous product of a supplier. Recycled aluminum materials generated at Nissan’s manufacturing sites will also be used to further reduce CO₂ emissions during production.