Nissan on Monday revealed a roadmap that may pivot the automaker back toward hybrids and plug-in hybrids for the U.S., in addition to higher-volume, reduced-cost EVs, with goals to chop the fee of next-generation EVs by 30%.
As such, they’ll cost the identical or lower than combustion models by 2030.
Under a brand new marketing strategy it’s terming The Arc, the automaker intends to get better a few of its early EV sales leadership, achieving this cost reduction in its next-generation EVs through grouped “family” development, utilizing commonized upper-body parts and modularized powertrains. Models using this approach can be headed into production in 2027.
Nissan EV hybrid and EV plans, as of March 2024
Nissan plans family of vehicles with same shared upper body components
On a market basis, it is going to follow “a tailored regional strategy and prepare for an accelerated transition to EVs, supported by a balanced electrified/ICE product portfolio,” the automaker explained. Sources have confirmed to Green Automobile Reports that two larger U.S. EVs set to be built around then in Mississippi will incorporate that strategy.
Multiple hybrids and plug-in hybrids
Globally, fully electric models will double from 20% of Nissan’s global mix in 2026 to 40% in 2030, the corporate anticipates. Nissan previously said that it also plans for 40% of its U.S. sales by 2030 to be fully electric. While it didn’t provide an update on the latter figure with Monday’s presentation, it did say it plans to refresh 78% of its passenger vehicle lineup while launching e-Power and plug-in hybrid models.
Nissan e-Power U.S. launch timeline
Nissan’s e-Power hybrids will arrive in 2026 for the U.S., it said in Monday’s presentation, the identical yr it expects e-Power to get to a price parity with combustion engines alone. In its latest iteration, Nissan is claiming 20% more power, 10% higher efficiency, and a 20% cost reduction versus previous versions of the hybrid tech.
The automaker has already outlined that a lot of its models will shift to a modular propulsion strategy that groups future e-Power hybrid and EV efforts under the identical shared components that may even be produced on the identical line. That strategy, being introduced this yr, is about to cut back powertrain costs by about 30% versus 2019.
Nissan currently doesn’t have a single hybrid or plug-in hybrid for the U.S. market. It’s already hinted that they’re on the way in which, and that it may be pivoting its e-Power hybrid tech toward trucks—and a brand new parallel-hybrid mode for that system that may make it a greater fit for U.S. driving. That’s something Honda’s two-motor hybrid system already provides, and with Nissan and Honda considering a strategic partnership for electrification it appears that evidently’s a possibility.
Nissan sees 30% EV cost reduction by 2030
LFP and solid-state batteries, NCM with half the charge time
The automaker on Monday also noted that it plans to speculate greater than $2.6 billion in battery capability, to supply EVs with nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP), and all-solid-state batteries “to supply diversified EVs to satisfy different customer needs.” All three latest and revamped battery types, Nissan says, can be launched in EVs in fiscal yr 2028.
On the LFP front, Nissan says that such batteries being developed and produced in Japan will reduce battery cost by 30% within the minicompact Sakura EV.
And within the NCM lithium-ion area, Nissan says that it is going to slash fast-charging times in half while boosting energy density by 50%, versus current battery tech utilized in the Ariya. Nissan boasted that these batteries will debut in a brand new three-row electric SUV due in 2028.
Nissan confirms next-gen NCM battery tech for 3-row SUV
The Nissan Ariya EV itself is its second EV after the Leaf and a really competitive entry within the U.S. market, on all but price and EV tax-credit eligibility (it’s in-built Japan). It offers as much as 304 miles of range, introduces a brand new e-4orce all-wheel-drive system, debuts a straightforward, elegant latest interface, and provides an opulent level of ride comfort and cabin quiet.
Nissan had intended its Leaf to be its volume EV, sold within the thousands and thousands, with various global derivatives at one point within the works. Although the unique model was well received, the automaker’s EV ambition slowly fizzled and it took 12 years to realize 1,000,000 sales for the model. Nissan may soon have one other probability to construct that volume; a successor to the present Leaf is due in 2026 or 2027.
This Article First Appeared At www.greencarreports.com
