Nissan Motors announced last week that the company would create plants in Portugal and the United Kingdom for lithium-ion battery packs in the next few years. The Japanese automaker wants to use these new plants to create the next generation of batteries for the Nissan-Renault Alliance. Each plant will be capable of producing 60,000 units per year, creating a steady supply of batteries for a large-scale EV rollout. As these two plants are built, Nissan is planning a future expansion of its productive capacity in additional European markets.
Nissan has announced that Sunderland will be the location for the automaker’s UK battery plant. This choice was a no-brainer for Nissan since Sunderland already hosts one of the company’s UK manufacturing plants. Nissan worked with Sunderland officials to include the battery production plants into the region’s Low Carbon Economic Area. As the British public increasingly turns to green vehicles, the Nissan Sunderland plant will not only meet customer demand but help politicians show their eco-friendly bona fides.
The Portugal location has not yet been chosen by Nissan though the Portuguese market seems promising for the Nissan-Renault Alliance. Portugal’s national government has already committed to installing 1,300 EV charging station nationwide by 2011 in exchange for EVs from Nissan-Renault starting in 2011 for government agencies. The national government has also created a compact with local governments, car park owners and other parties to facilitate a national EV infrastructure. Nissan has worked with these collaborators to develop an EV charging station that is affordable, easy to use and actionable over the past year.
The Nissan-Renault Alliance is shaping up as the dominant force for EV development over the next decade. Nissan and Renault are laying the roots for future EV rollouts by working with local, regional and national leaders in Europe, Asia and North America. The alliance’s focus on developing lithium-ion batteries, drive systems and other components will smooth the path for an initial EV rollout. Nissan and Renault have been involved in plenty of prototyping and testing (just read here and here), which shows the alliance’s promise as a global leader in EV sales. Nissan’s recent announcement about battery production may not be as sexy as announcements about EV prototypes and releases but it is another step in the right direction.
