Nissan Confirms First US Electric Car by 2010

Following the $1.6 billion loan received from the United States Department of Energy, Nissan once again confirmed its plans to launch electric cars in the country, emphasizing that the funding package it has just received will play a key role in the company's market strategy. The money will be used by Nissan to transform its Smyrna, Tennessee production facility to build zero-emissions vehicles and build an additional plant for designing lithium-ion batteries.

Modifications at the Smyrna facility include a new battery factory as well as changes in its structure for assembling electric vehicles. The production plant will have a capacity of 150,000 electric vehicles per year as well as 200,000 batteries during the same period.

"This loan is an investment in America. It will help us put high-quality, affordable zero-emissions vehicles on our roads," said Dominique Thormann, senior vice president, Administration and Finance for NNA. "This project will expand our Smyrna plant and that's great economic news."

Nissan says construction at Smyrna is projected to begin by the end of the year with production likely to commence in late 2012. However, the Japanese manufacturer will begin offering electric vehicles in the United States and Japan in 2010 but the first models to arrive in the US will be built in Japan.

"Nissan is confident that the Smyrna employees have the skill and dedication to take on this critical role in Nissan's future by launching a new form of transportation in the United States," said Susan Brennan, vice president, in charge of manufacturing at Smyrna. "This opens a new chapter in Nissan's 26-year manufacturing history in America."