Nissan has announced that it will ramp up its electrification plans, investing two trillion yen (RM74.8 billion) over the next five years to accelerate the electrification of its vehicle lineup. Under its Ambition 2030 strategy that was unveiled earlier today, the automaker is aiming to introduce 23 new electrified models, which includes 15 new battery electric vehicles (EVs), by 2030.
The company said that by having 20 new e-Power and EV models out into the market in the next five years, it is aiming to significantly increase the scope of its electrified products across major markets by 2026.
By that point, it is looking to have these account for more than 75% of its sales in Europe, while more than half (55%) of its domestic vehicle sales are anticipated to be made up of electrified models. For China, it is targeting to have EVs accounting for more than 40% of its total sales, and a similar percentage is also being aimed for in the US, the latter by 2030.
Aside from new platforms and vehicles, the Yokohama-based automaker is also set to invest heavily on battery development and its related tech. It said it will continue to evolve its lithium-ion battery technologies and introduce cobalt-free technology to bring down the cost of batteries by 65% by 2028.
In a bid to meet increased demand for power supply units, the brand said that it will establish a global battery supply system, and is intending to increase its overall global battery production capacity to 52 GWh by 2026, and to 130 GWh by 2030.
The company is also aiming to deploy its proprietary all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by fiscal year 2028. The ASSB, it said, will reduce charging time by a third, making EVs more efficient and accessible, and is also set to bring the cost of battery packs down to US$75 (RM317) per kWh by fiscal year 2028, allowing it to be able to expand its EV offerings across more segments.
From then, the aim is to reduce it to US$65 (RM275) per kWh to achieve cost parity between EVs and gasoline vehicles. A pilot plant for ASSB production is expected to be up as early as 2024.
In addition to new technologies, Nissan said it will localise manufacturing and sourcing to make EVs more competitive, and is also set to expand its unique EV36Zero EV hub concept it introduced in the UK to core markets such as Japan, China and the US.
The company said it would also invest up to 20 billion yen (RM748 million) by 2026 to develop charging infrastructure, and added that the electrification push would see the creation of more than 3,000 new jobs in advanced research and development globally.
“With Nissan Ambition 2030, we will drive the new age of electrification, advance technologies to reduce carbon footprint and pursue new business opportunities. We want to transform Nissan to become a sustainable company that is truly needed by customers and society,” said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida.
Separately, the company also announced plans to expand its ProPilot autonomous tech to over 2.5 million Nissan and Infiniti vehicles by 2026, and said it is targeting to incorporate next-gen LIDAR systems on virtually every new model it has by 2030.
Keyword: Nissan to invest RM75 billion in electrification – to have 23 electrified models, including 15 EVs, by 2030