Nissan Tells Plug-In Advocate It Wants Its Own U..S. Battery Factory

Electric vehicle activist Paul Scott, a founding member and director of Plug In America, reports that Nissan wants to build its own advanced battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. as part of its electric car initiative.

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Nissan EV concept at last year's New York auto show.

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The automaker already has announced its intent to launch a Nissan EV in the U.S. late next year, with global sales to follow by 2012.

Scott said he was invited to a breakfast meeting this week with several of the automaker's representatives, including Nissan North America product planning chief Mark Perry, to discuss various aspects of the Nissan electric vehicle plan.

Nissan previously said that the car would be a unique addition to its lineup rather than an electric version of an existing model.

While specifics about the proposed new car's performance and battery capacity weren't divulged, Scott says he was told that Nissan is shooting for a five-passenger vehicle with a range of 100 miles at highway speeds.

While Nissan plans to sell or lease the car to fleet customers at first, Scott said he "made a pitch to offer some to private buyers to generate interest" and that his proposal "seemed to be well received, so maybe they'll offer a couple thousand cars for sale to the early adopter set."

Nissan is partnering with NEC in Japan to build the lithium ion batteries for the new car, but told Scott that Nissan developed the battery chemistry and the control system in-house. The batteries already are in production, Scott reports.

The automaker intends to use the universal standard for Level 2 battery charging at 240 volts but will ensure that the car can charge at standard 120-volt household current  (now called Level 1 charging) and at Level 3 fast-charging as well, if and when fast charging stations become available.

Although Nissan and partner Renault are working with entrepreneur Shai Agassi's Better Place on electric car program in Israel and Denmark, Scott was told that the automaker isn't a fan of Agassi's idea of designing electric cars with battery packs that can be easily swapped for new ones when their charge is depleted.

Agassi's idea is to have plug-in recharging stations that motorists could use to "top up" their vehicles' batteries while the occupants were shopping, attending a movie or dining out, for instance, with battery exchange stations available to "refill" the EV's equivalent of a fuel tank when the battery was nearly depleted by pulling out the depleted battery pack and replacing it one that was fully charged.

Critics of the battery swap idea say that it adds too many complications to an already complex endeavor. Among other things, the need to have universally accessible battery packs would limit car design and that systems for rapid exchange of 400-pound battery packs would require expensive machinery.

Much of what Scott was told has been said before, but it is nice to get it all in one serving, so to speak, and even nicer to know that Nissan's being consistent with its electric vehicle message and mission.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

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John O'Dell March 26, 2009, 10:40 AM

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