Nissan Hopes to Cash In on Electric Batteries

By Dena Cassella November 3, 2009

Nissan hopes to accelerate the production of electric batteries even without government support, offering a timeline of three years before the cost-cutting effort showed results noticeable to auto buyers.

However, Nissan and Renault plan to offer its new electric battery technology in countries that have state subsidies available for consumers.

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“We have the loans, we have the agreements with different governments and we are engaging 500,000 batteries,” according to Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. “I will not sell an electric car that is 25 percent more expensive than a gasoline powered one.”

Although Nissan would like to reach the 500K platform, it’s unknown when the company expects to be able to do so.

In the future, technological improvements and better agreements with governments will allow the electric batteries to become available for a lower price. Nissan hopes to become the leader in electric vehicles, planning to launch battery-run cars in the next three years. The Japanese automaker will release its Leaf battery-powered vehicle sometime next year in the United States, Japan and parts of Europe.

Until the electric battery market matures, Nissan hopes to price Leaf towards compact gas-powered vehicles, according to press reports. If the price of gasoline remains high over the coming quarters, according to Nissan, the demand for electric vehicles could greatly increase as consumers look for more environmentally friendly cars.

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Nissan wants the 2023 Ariya to be its comeback EV, but the bar has been raised

Front view of the 2023 Nissan Ariya.

Nissan played an understated role in the modern era of electric cars. While Tesla gets most of the attention, the Nissan Leaf became the first modern mass-market EV when it launched in December 2010. But Nissan has squandered that early lead. The Leaf remains a decent car, but Nissan needed to follow it up with another model, specifically an SUV, that would appeal to more car shoppers. That’s where the 2023 Nissan Ariya comes in.
The Ariya is the long-awaited sequel to the Leaf, boosting updated tech, better performance, and an SUV body style to match current trends. But during the Ariya’s long gestation (it was originally supposed to launch in 2021), other automakers have come up with electric SUVs of their own. So while it was once a leader, Nissan must now follow the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6, among others.
Pricing starts at $44,485 (with destination) for the base Ariya Engage trim level with front-wheel drive and the smaller 65-kilowatt-hour (63-kWh usable capacity) battery pack. Pricing rises to $61,485 for the top Platinum+ model with all-wheel drive and a 91-kWh (87-kWh usable capacity) pack, but all-wheel drive models won’t arrive until after the front-wheel drive models. Nissan hasn’t discussed plans to assemble the Ariya in the U.S., so it likely won’t qualify for the revised federal EV tax credit.

Design and interior
If it had launched even two years ago, the Ariya would have looked cutting-edge. Its rounded exterior surfaces make a nod to aerodynamics while still preserving the SUV look buyers love. It’s a nice-looking vehicle too, but so are the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6, all of which have gone on sale since the Ariya was announced in 2020. Nissan is no longer a trendsetter, but the Ariya can at least claim a more SUV-like feel than those other EVs, in both its tall profile and high-and-mighty driving position.
More significant than the styling, though, is that the Ariya rides on a new EV-specific platform. In contrast to the Leaf, which shares some of its structure with gasoline cars, engineers could take full advantage of the efficiencies of an electric powertrain and maximize interior space. Like certain other automakers, Nissan also opted out of a frunk in order to maximize passenger space, moving components like the air conditioner under the hood to make more room in the cabin.
Rounded surfaces nod to aerodynamics while still preserving the SUV look buyers love.

Cars

How do electric cars work? EV motors and batteries explained

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Electric vehicles function in fundamentally different ways than traditional cars. Internal combustion engines have loads of moving parts, and while EVs have their own complexities, they're much more digital than mechanical. Let's take a closer look at exactly how electric vehicles work.
How does an EV battery pack work?
Instead of gasoline, EVs derive their power from a battery pack, which usually stretches along the underside of the car to keep the weight as low as possible. It's composed of multiple modules, which are in turn broken down into individual battery cells, similar in size to AA batteries. A layer of coolant runs between cells since hot batteries are explodey batteries. A battery management system regulates that coolant and ensures that each cell drains at the same rate, which prolongs the life of the pack.

Cars

Nissan’s ‘smellmasters’ perform odor checks on new cars

A Nissan "smellmaster" checking the odor of a new car.

As anyone who’s bought a new car knows, the interior of the vehicle can give off a bit of a whiff at first. And if that odor is overpowering or unpleasant, you might quickly form a negative opinion about your new motor -- even if it does drive like a dream.

Nissan, for one, is well aware of the importance of creating a car that not only looks great and drives well but also smells nice.