The Japanese brand is forging ahead with its electric vehicle plans.
Nissan has announced that it will be launching 23 new electrified vehicles by 2030, 15 of which will be fully electric. Along with its announcement that the brand will be carbon neutral by 2050, the Japanese brand showed off 4 interesting concepts.
This new strategy has been called the Nissan Ambition 2030 long-term vision and will see an investment of 2 trillian yen to speed up the electrification of its entire portfolio. Nissan claims that no fewer than 20 new pure electric vehicles and e-Power (hybrid) vehicles will be launched in the next five years, with the brand expecting up to 75% of its sales will be for electrified vehicles. At home in Japan, Nissan is aiming for 55% of sales and in China, more than 40% of sales to be electrified.
“The role of companies to address societal needs is increasingly heightened,” Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida said in a statement. “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.”
With the Nissan Ambition 2030, the brand will be improving its lithium-ion battery tech and will introduce cobalt-free technology, which should bring the cost of batteries down. It hopes to launch an EV with solid-state batteries by 2028 and have a pilot plant in Japan ready by 2024. Nissan also intends on increasing its global battery production capacity to 52 GWh by 2026 and 130 GWh by 2030.
To coincide with the Ambition 2030 announcement, Nissan unveiled four electric concepts. The brand did not mention if any of these will become production models, but its a clear indication of where the brand is headed in terms of design direction. The cars have cute names too: Nissan Chill-Out, Nissan Max-Out, Nissan Surf-Out, and Nissan Hang-Out.
Locally, while we’re not likely to see an electrified version of the Navara double-cab bakkie, we hope to see at least a hybrid version of the new Nissan Qashqai which is due to land in South Africa in 2022.
