As car manufacturers bid to gain an advantage in the green car race, Nissan Motor Company is reportedly ready to build a joint venture lithium-ion battery plant in France.
According to reports in The Nikkei, the plant would be built in 2012 to supply Renault. In addition to batteries, the companies will also work together on motors and several other key components of electric vehicles in an effort to reduce production costs.
The report states that the plant will be to produce batteries for around 60,000 cars annually with a total investment expected to reach 30billion yen. Nissan and Renault will use a low-interest loan facility offered by the French Government for green cars to help finance the plant.
This follows on from Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, a joint venture between Nissan and NEC, making the decision to upgrade its supply capacity at Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, to supply enough lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 cars a year. Nissan and NEC also plan to build lithium-ion battery plants in the US, the UK and Portugal ahead of 2012 bringing their worldwide lithium-ion battery supply capacity to around 500,000 cars a year – up from its initial goal of 400,000 units.
