Monday, May 19, 2008

Nissan Planning Mass Production of Lithium Ion Batteries


Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn mentioned in an interview for BusinessWeek last April 2008 that he expected the sales of cars in the United States to drop this year and perhaps early next year before stabilizing. A reason for his estimates would be the economic recession currently plaguing the country and, of course, the ever increasing oil prices.

The best course of action for car companies would be to produce economical and cars since gas prices have now become a major factor for most car buyers when it comes to choosing what vehicle to purchase.

Car companies have various alternatives when it comes to producing economical cars. They can either produce smaller cars with smaller engines, produce hybrids, bio diesel or ethanol compatible cars.

Carlos Ghosn, even mentioned that rising oil prices creates a place for breakthrough technology for electric cars with zero carbon emission.

Of course, CEO's assess the market and make calculated predictions for the sole purpose of getting ahead of the competition. So when Ghosn talks mentions anything about "a place for a breakthrough technology for electric cars", he is subtly revealing his own plans for the future: a plan to get ahead for mass producing zero emission cars.

And true enough, a month after the interview, Nissan Motor Co. has unveiled its plans for mass producing Lithium Ion Battery to be used for the company's hybrid and electric cars. Nissan plans to have their low and zero emission cars available in Japan and America by 2010, Israel and Denmark by 2011, and worldwide by 2012. The batterties will be made by Automotive Energy Supply Corp., NEC Corp., and NEC Tokin Corp.

Among Japanese car manufacturers, Nissan has fallen behind Toyota and Honda in the race to produce 'green cars'. The production of Lithium Ion Batteries would be Nissan's trump card to catch up and, ideally for Nissan, eventually lead the competition .

Lithium ion batteries are lighter and more powerful than the nickel-metal composition of current batteries used in todays hybrids like the Toyota Prius.

According to Nissan's executive Vice President Carlos Tavares, the company is taking a zero-emission vehicle position and it is the company's goal to realize that vision as quickly as possible.

Toyota and GM also have plans of producing Lithium Ion Battery powered cars by 2010. However, it was Nissan that was the first to announce its production plans for the technology.

The race for the production of more affordable zero-emission cars is slowly heating up. Which company comes out on top would be anyone's guess. But having cars completely independent from gasoline may just be a reality that could happen sooner than what everyone expects.

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