By Daniel Leussink
YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Japan’s Nissan (OTC:) Motor will start producing solid-state batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale by early 2029 and will use massive fusion machines in a bid to boost efficiency and reduce costs. costs on future models. the automaker said Tuesday.
Nissan is betting on technological advances to stave off stiff competition from rivals like Tesla (NASDAQ:) and BYD (SZ:) that have competed in producing battery-powered cars.
Japan’s third-largest automaker by volume will initially carry out prototype tests and develop solid-state batteries at an unfinished pilot plant in Yokohama, a city near Tokyo where it is based, before ramping up production capacity. Solid-state batteries are expected to charge faster and last longer than conventional ones.
Nissan plans to produce its first solid-state batteries at the site from March 2025 and will employ 100 workers per shift to increase production to 100 megawatt hours per year from the financial year starting in April 2028.
The automaker will also use heavy machinery to produce the rear decks of electric vehicles that will be sold a year earlier, a process that will reduce production costs by 10% and reduce component weight by 20%.
Nissan has been using cast panels for structural parts of front air conditioners at its Tochigi plant for more than 15 years, said Hideyuki Sakamoto, executive vice president for manufacturing and supply chain management.
The automaker considered several aspects for the production of the bodies, he added. “In the end, we decided to use a 6,000-ton gigacasting machine to make the rear body structure of the cars using aluminum casting.”
Nissan plans to launch 30 new models over the next three years. Of these, 16 will be electrified, including eight fully battery-powered vehicles and four plug-in hybrids.
The automaker, which pioneered electric vehicles with its all-battery-powered Leaf, now seeks to reduce the cost of the next generation of such vehicles by 30% to make them comparable to internal combustion engine models by 2030.
Nissan is considering a strategic partnership with a larger domestic rival Honda (NYSE:) Motor will work together to build key components for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence in automotive software platforms, the companies said last month.
(This story has been officially corrected by Nissan to say that production will be 100 megawatt hours per year, not per month, starting in fiscal 2028, in paragraph 4)