Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by 2010
05-18-08, 10:39 PM
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05-18-08, 11:42 PM
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Nissan-NEC to make lithium-ion batteries
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan's joint venture with electronics maker NEC Corp. will invest 12 billion yen, or $115 million, to start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries — a technology widely viewed as key for next-generation "green" cars.
Nissan Motor Co. Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares told reporters Monday the Japanese automaker wants to be a global leader in "zero-emission vehicles."
Lithium-ion batteries are now more common in laptops and other gadgets, although all the world's major automakers are working on applying the batteries for their cars.
The new batteries will be more powerful than — and half the size of — nickel-metal hydride batteries that are now commonly used in ecological cars today, Nissan officials said.
Nissan's joint venture called Automotive Energy Supply Corp. plans to make advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, hybrids and fuel cells — all important technology to reduce pollution as well as gases linked to global warming.
"Nissan firmly believes the ultimate solution for sustainable mobility lies in zero-emission vehicles," Tavares said at a Tokyo hotel.
A plant for the batteries, set to be running by 2009, will have annual production capacity of 65,000, and starting capacity of 13,000, Nissan said. The investment will cover three years, it said.
The first commercial products with the new batteries are Nissan forklifts in 2009, but electric vehicles for the U.S. and Japanese market will follow in 2010, Tavares said.
Tokyo-based Nissan has been sometimes criticized as falling behind Japanese rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. in ecological technology.
Toyota has a big hit with its gas-electric hybrid, Prius, which has already crossed the 1 million sales mark worldwide over the decade it has been on sale. Honda also has its own hybrid and fuel-cell models.
Nissan has said it will introduce its own hybrid in 2010, besides the electric vehicles planned for the U.S. and Japan.
By 2012, Nissan plans to mass-market electric vehicles to consumers globally. It is also planning to make available on a wide scale zero-emission electric vehicles in Israel and Denmark in 2011.
Nissan said it will market its lithium-ion battery to other automakers and customers, an effort that will help cut costs by boosting production numbers.
But Nissan has competition in this race. Toyota has said it will start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrids in the next few years. Japan's top automaker is working with Matsu****a Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products.
Massive global recalls in recent years of laptops reportedly suspected of catching on fire because of faulty lithium-ion batteries have raised fears about their safety.
Nissan said it did tests to ensure safety, performance and reasonable costs of its new battery. Nissan declined to give details of the electric cars in the works, including pricing. The joint venture is 51 percent owned by Nissan and 49 percent by NEC and its subsidiary.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...y1YowD90OGJDG0
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan's joint venture with electronics maker NEC Corp. will invest 12 billion yen, or $115 million, to start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries — a technology widely viewed as key for next-generation "green" cars.
Nissan Motor Co. Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares told reporters Monday the Japanese automaker wants to be a global leader in "zero-emission vehicles."
Lithium-ion batteries are now more common in laptops and other gadgets, although all the world's major automakers are working on applying the batteries for their cars.
The new batteries will be more powerful than — and half the size of — nickel-metal hydride batteries that are now commonly used in ecological cars today, Nissan officials said.
Nissan's joint venture called Automotive Energy Supply Corp. plans to make advanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, hybrids and fuel cells — all important technology to reduce pollution as well as gases linked to global warming.
"Nissan firmly believes the ultimate solution for sustainable mobility lies in zero-emission vehicles," Tavares said at a Tokyo hotel.
A plant for the batteries, set to be running by 2009, will have annual production capacity of 65,000, and starting capacity of 13,000, Nissan said. The investment will cover three years, it said.
The first commercial products with the new batteries are Nissan forklifts in 2009, but electric vehicles for the U.S. and Japanese market will follow in 2010, Tavares said.
Tokyo-based Nissan has been sometimes criticized as falling behind Japanese rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. in ecological technology.
Toyota has a big hit with its gas-electric hybrid, Prius, which has already crossed the 1 million sales mark worldwide over the decade it has been on sale. Honda also has its own hybrid and fuel-cell models.
Nissan has said it will introduce its own hybrid in 2010, besides the electric vehicles planned for the U.S. and Japan.
By 2012, Nissan plans to mass-market electric vehicles to consumers globally. It is also planning to make available on a wide scale zero-emission electric vehicles in Israel and Denmark in 2011.
Nissan said it will market its lithium-ion battery to other automakers and customers, an effort that will help cut costs by boosting production numbers.
But Nissan has competition in this race. Toyota has said it will start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrids in the next few years. Japan's top automaker is working with Matsu****a Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products.
Massive global recalls in recent years of laptops reportedly suspected of catching on fire because of faulty lithium-ion batteries have raised fears about their safety.
Nissan said it did tests to ensure safety, performance and reasonable costs of its new battery. Nissan declined to give details of the electric cars in the works, including pricing. The joint venture is 51 percent owned by Nissan and 49 percent by NEC and its subsidiary.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...y1YowD90OGJDG0
05-18-08, 11:44 PM
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Nissan, NEC to Build Battery Plant for Electric Cars
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third- largest automaker, will build a factory with NEC Corp. to make lithium-ion batteries in Japan for use in electric and gasoline- electric hybrid cars.71
The two companies will spend 12 billion yen ($115 million) over three years for the plant in Kanagawa Prefecture to make lighter, more powerful batteries, they said in a joint statement today. The factory will produce 13,000 units a year initially and eventually have an annual capacity of 65,000.
Nissan is trying to catch up with larger rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. in offering hybrid cars. Demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles is rising as the price of crude oil reached a record $127.82 per barrel in intraday trading on May 16.
``It's a key product for Nissan as electric cars may be able to win popularity amid higher fuel costs,'' said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, which oversees $28 billion in assets.
Nissan will raise its stake in Automotive Energy Supply Corp., the battery venture, to 51 percent from 50 percent. NEC will hold 42 percent and subsidiary NEC Tokin Corp. will own the remainder, the statement said. The venture, established in April 2007, plans to sell batteries to other companies.
Electric Cars
Nissan rose 0.6 percent to 981 yen as of 1:28 p.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. NEC fell 1.5 percent to 530 yen. NEC Tokin surged 11 percent to 301 yen.
``The ultimate solution for sustainable mobility lies in zero-emission vehicles,'' Nissan Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares said at a press conference in Tokyo. ``Electric cars represent one clear strategic direction.''
In a separate statement, Nissan said it will begin studying infrastructure construction, including charging stations, for electric vehicles in Kanagawa with the local government.
The new battery Nissan and NEC are developing will be half the size of a nickel-hydride battery, while having twice the power, according to NEC, Japan's largest personal computer maker.
Lithium-ion batteries are used to power mobile phones and notebook computers. While lithium-ion batteries are lighter and can hold more power than current nickel-metal ones, lithium is a less stable material that can ignite when overheated.
Automotive Energy will increase the number of employees to 190 in 2011 from 80 now. The battery factory will be built in an existing Nissan facility, the company said. The cell will be first used in Nissan forklifts for sale in 2009, Tavares said.
Hybrids
NEC Tokin, based in northern Japan's Sendai City, is 51 percent owned by NEC, and will invest 11 billion yen over the next three years to produce lithium-manganese electrodes for the new venture and other products.
Nissan also plans to use lithium-ion batteries to power hybrid vehicles to be released in 2010. The company sold its first U.S. hybrid cars in 2006, six years behind Toyota and Honda, the world's two biggest makers of such vehicles.
Tokyo-based Nissan, 44 percent owned by Renault SA, plans to introduce electric cars in the U.S., Japan and Israel before starting mass production in 2012. Introduction in the U.S. and Japan is scheduled in 2010.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...TU&refer=japan
05-19-08, 12:20 AM
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Nissan Gets Set To Make Heart Of Electric Vehicle
Nissan is pressing ahead with its plan to become a leader in zero-emission electric cars, announcing Monday that it will build manufacturing facilities with NEC to produce lithium-ion batteries by 2009.
Early in April, Nissan entered into a joint venture with NEC to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries, the rechargeable heart for electric and hybrid vehicles. The joint-venture company, called Automotive Energy Supply Corp., will spend 12 billion yen ($114.6 million) spread over a three-year period to build production facilities at a Nissan campus in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The joint venture, split between Nissan and NEC at a ratio of 51% to 49%, was officially launched Monday. The plant is slated to commence operations by 2009 with an initial annual production capacity of 13,000 units, expanding to 65,000 units. The companies said that their lithium-ion batteries, featuring a compact laminated configuration, will be able to supply twice as much electric power as nickel-metal hydride batteries, which use a cylindrical configuration, but at only half the size.
Success in developing top-notch lithium-ion batteries is critical to Nissan’s plan to commercialize a zero-emission car, which it is hoped will tame the environmental ravages of surging demand for vehicles worldwide.
Carlos Tavares, executive vice president of Nissan, echoed recent comments from CEO Carlos Ghosn: “The ultimate solution for sustainable mobility lies in zero-emission vehicles. Ghosn is positioning Nissan to be the leader in zero-emission cars."
Drawing on ongoing field tests, Nissan said the joint venture’s batteries will be safe and run for more than 100,000 kilometers (62,500 miles). The batteries are slated to see their first commercial application in 2009 in forklifts for small businesses. Nissan aims to launch electric cars in the U.S. and Japan in 2010, as well as in its first original hybrid model. Nissan plans to begin mass-marketing electric cars globally in 2012.
Nissan’s new lithium-ion batteries will also be deployed in Israel and Denmark by 2011 as part of a $200 million joint initiative with California-based Project Better Place, which aims to create a commercial network of easily accessible charging points for more than 500,000 electric cars.
By betting heavily on pure electric cars, Nissan is trying to catch up with Toyota and Honda, which have surged far ahead of it in commercializing gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
A week ago, German carmaker Volkswagen AG also made a similar move, deciding to work with Sanyo Electric to develop a lithium-ion battery.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/0...9markets1.html
05-19-08, 06:47 AM
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I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the revolutionary Subaru/NEC battery.
Subaru Lithium Ion Battery Technology
The TPH and Li-ion capacitor development projects are the latest in the company’s power storage technologies, and the practical advances they represent illustrate the dedication of Subaru to enhance its environmental technology development. The Lithium-ion capacitor (Li-ion) is anticipated to broaden the possibilities for batteries in future automobiles. The Li-ion capacitor drastically enhances energy density, while retaining the inherently superior capability of instantaneous charge/discharge and the high durability of regular capacitors.
The Li-ion capacitor’s negative electrode uses newly developed Li-ion occlusive carbon material, while its electrolyte is also made of Li-ion. The technique called pre-doping enables occlusion of large amount of Li-ion on the negative electrode in this new capacitor, which helps boost the capacity of the negative electrode, and increases the electrical potential difference, thereby making achievement of high voltage possible without deterioration in positive electrode performance.
Furthermore, the principle of the Li-ion capacitor holds the potential for greater versatility and increased performance of capacitor occlusion. Many new materials to be used for high-energy accumulation in capacitors have been tested, and some progress has been made in that area of research. The application of certain new materials to the positive electrode, combined with the pre-doping technique of the Li-ion capacitor, will theoretically double the estimated accumulation capacity of capacitors available in today’s market.
The TPH and Li-ion capacitor development projects are the latest in the company’s power storage technologies, and the practical advances they represent illustrate the dedication of Subaru to enhance its environmental technology development. The Lithium-ion capacitor (Li-ion) is anticipated to broaden the possibilities for batteries in future automobiles. The Li-ion capacitor drastically enhances energy density, while retaining the inherently superior capability of instantaneous charge/discharge and the high durability of regular capacitors.
The Li-ion capacitor’s negative electrode uses newly developed Li-ion occlusive carbon material, while its electrolyte is also made of Li-ion. The technique called pre-doping enables occlusion of large amount of Li-ion on the negative electrode in this new capacitor, which helps boost the capacity of the negative electrode, and increases the electrical potential difference, thereby making achievement of high voltage possible without deterioration in positive electrode performance.
Furthermore, the principle of the Li-ion capacitor holds the potential for greater versatility and increased performance of capacitor occlusion. Many new materials to be used for high-energy accumulation in capacitors have been tested, and some progress has been made in that area of research. The application of certain new materials to the positive electrode, combined with the pre-doping technique of the Li-ion capacitor, will theoretically double the estimated accumulation capacity of capacitors available in today’s market.
05-19-08, 07:20 AM
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If memory serves, I think he only poo-pooed Hybrids in the sense that he didn't think they were a profitable a solution in themselves and that Nissan would be exploring several fuel alternatives such as Fuel Cell vehicles.
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