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Nissan Ambition 2030 Promises 15 New EVs Thanks to $17.6 Billion Investment

It took Nissan quite a while to honor its role as an electrification pioneer. Despite being the first brand to present a modern mass-market electric car – the LEAF – the company failed to deliver new ones to expand the EV lineup. That will change thanks to Ambition 2030, the company’s strategic plan toward electrification.
Nissan Ambition 2030 51 photos
Photo: Nissan
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It consists of investing 2 trillion yen over the next five years to bring 15 new electric cars to market, apart from 8 electrified vehicles. In total, Nissan will offer 23 new models as a result of the strategic electric shift plan, among them the successor to the Nissan LEAF.

The vehicle was presented as the Chill-Out concept. The image matches that shared by Nissan when it announced this new vehicle would be produced in its Sunderland plant in the UK. The Japanese carmaker also introduced three other concepts.

The Surf-Out is an electric pickup truck with as many chances of reaching production lines as the Hang-Out concept, a boxy SUV, probably smaller than the Chill-Out. Nissan’s Max-Out concept is a roadster that would just be put for sale as a halo car, something the Japanese company may postpone or not even consider.

Unfortunately, Nissan did not provide more information on the concepts. It only said the Chill-Out would use the CMF-EV platform, like the Ariya, but nothing about the other vehicles. The company’s focus was on the strategic plan and the advantages it will bring, such as solid-state batteries. The automaker said it is developing its own technology and that a factory for these cells will be ready by 2024 in Yokohama. Curiously, the ASSB (all-solid-state batteries) will only be ready for production by 2028.

Makoto Uchida seized the opportunity to brag about Nissan’s reliability with batteries: “I’m proud to say Nissan has always delivered safe batteries with zero incidents.” The Nissan CEO said the ASSB would have twice the energy density of current lithium-ion cells and charge in only one-third of the time, but he did not explain why the company will get their factory ready four years before the batteries can actually be produced.

What Uchida did mention was that he expects these new cells to eventually cost only $65/kWh. That would finally bring production cost parity with combustion-engined cars. Nobody has mentioned so far how much cheaper solid-state batteries could be. These cells will be crucial for Nissan to offer electric pickup trucks thanks to the lower weight. If the Nissan CEO is right about that, it confirms the impression we have that Toyota is waiting for its solid-state cells to make a total commitment to electric cars.

Nissan did not say what it meant by electrified models, but it confirmed e-POWER vehicles are included in the list. With those new models, Nissan expects electrified cars to count for 75% of sales in Europe, 55% in Japan, and 40% in China by 2026. In the U.S., Nissan expects them to reach 40% of sales by 2030.

Will there be time for Nissan to recover the EV leadership it once briefly had? We have no idea, but the investments and the plans show the company at least intends to stay alive in a world in which combustion engines are no longer welcome.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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