Nissan said on Monday it is investing 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) over the next five years and developing a cheaper, more powerful battery to enhance its electric vehicle lineup. The Japanese automaker's chief executive, Makoto Uchida, said 15 new electric vehicles will be available by fiscal 2030.
Nissan Motor Co. is targeting for a 50% "electrification" of the company's model lineup, under what Uchida called the "Nissan Ambition 2030" long-term plan. Electrified vehicles include hybrids and other kinds of environmentally friendly models other than just electric vehicles.
The effort is focused mostly on electric vehicles to cut emissions and meet various customers' needs, said Uchida. Nissan also will cut carbon emissions at its factories, he added.
The firm has been struggling to put the scandal of its former Chairman Carlos Ghosn behind it. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, after he was sent to Japan by French alliance partner Renault, was arrested in Tokyo in 2018 on diverse
financial misconduct charges.
Uchida made no mention of the scandal but referred to "past mistakes" he promised won't be repeated at Nissan.
Nissan's "electrification" rests on developing a new ASSB, or all solid state battery, that it categorized as "a breakthrough" for being cheaper and generating more power than batteries now in use.
That means electric power trains can be more easily used in trucks, vans and other heavier vehicles because the batteries can be smaller. The ASSB would be in mass production by 2028, as per Nissan.
The costs of electric vehicles will also fall thanks to the battery innovation to levels comparable with regular gasoline cars, Uchida said.
"Nissan has emerged from a crisis and is ready to make a new start," he said.
All top automakers, consisting of Nissan's Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp., are working on electric vehicles, among growing concern over climate change and sustainability. Global consumers are also demanding more safety features.
Uchida said Nissan was hiring 3,000 engineers to reinforce its research, including digital technology for vehicles.
Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, has suffered lately from the computer chips shortage that's slammed all automakers because of lockdowns and other measures at chip factories to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The manufacturer of the Infiniti luxury models, Leaf electric vehicle and Z sportscar is projecting a return to profitability for the fiscal year through March 2022 after racking up two straight years of losses.
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