NISSAN WILL PLUG IN BY 2010

“If the people will lead,” somebody once said, “leaders will follow.” Nowhere has that been more true than in the U.S. auto market. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn seemed once again intent on verifying its truth when he explained why his company now aims to be the first to bring an electric vehicle to U.S. auto showrooms: “What we are seeing is that the shifts coming from the markets are more powerful than what regulators are doing…”

As recently as 2005, Ghosn called battery-powered cars “niche products.”

John O’Dell, senior editor, GreenCarAdvisor.com: “Obviously, something has opened his eyes.”

Could it be because Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries are testing EVs and GM and Toyota are developing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) to bring to market in 2010? Yes, it could. And seeing what he sees, Ghosn has apparently decided Nissan will step out and is now talking about “...zero-emission-vehicle leadership…” for the company.

The obstacle to bringing EVs to the market so far has been the battery. Car makers claim they have not been able to make one at a satisfactory price that has a satisfactory single-charge range and a satisfactory recharge time. Ghosn apparently sees the equation changing.

O’Dell, GreenCarAdvisor: “Nissan is upping the ante tremendously. They are the first to put it on the line and say we’re going to have an all-electric vehicle for a certain market by a certain date.”

China and India are likely on Ghosn’s mind, as they are on the minds of most big businesspeople these days: “The question is how we participate in the growth of emerging markets, while doing it in a way that is not in contradiction with the fact that a lot of people are sensitive to the emission levels and the preservation of the planet.”

Another signal of Ghosn’s new attitude toward EVs is the partnership between Renault (of which Ghosn is also CEO), Nissan and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Shai Agassi’s Project Better Place. Project Better Place wants to make EVs more widely practical by building battery exchange/recharging stations in high population density areas to serve as the EV version of gas stations. Nissan will make the batteries and Renault will supply the cars.

It is possible the Nissan experience with the lithium-ion battery for Project Better Place has been the game changer.

Ghosn is, however, leaving Project Better Place to Agassi and focusing on Nissan’s EV: “We are not interested in some ‘Stars Wars’ prototype…but in really bringing a mass- market product that everybody can buy. It’s really a new chapter in the life of this industry.”

The question is now famous: Who killed the electric car? EV enthusiasts have always argued it was automakers and government policy makers who, in the late 1990s, gave up on the EV. The accused have always argued that battery technology at the time made it impossible to market the EV. Investigators and the usual suspects will revisit the scene of the crime in 2010.

In 2010, the Nissan EV goes from concept to product. (click to enlarge)

Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by ‘10
Bill Vlasic, May 13, 2008 (NY Times)

WHO
Nissan Motor Company and Renault (Carlos Ghosn, CEO); Project Better Place (Shai Agassi, CEO)

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WHAT
Nissan will be the first major automaker to bring a zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) to the U.S. market. Nissan and Renault will also partner with Agassi on Project Better Place.

WHEN
- Ghosn says Nissan will have an electric vehicle (EV) in showrooms by 2010.
- The company plans to have a lineup of EVs by 2012.
- 10 million of the 69 million cars sold yearly could be EVs.

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WHERE
- The 2010 date will see EVs in U.S. and Japanese showrooms. The 2012 date will see the EV lineup marketed globally.
- Ghosn talked about emerging markets like China and India in announcing Nissan’s move.
- Project Better Place will build its first trial markets in Israel and Denmark.

Paul Scott, co-founder, Plug-In America: “Get all your cars on the grid, then clean up the grid!” (click to enlarge)

WHY
- There can be no doubt in anybody’s mind that the driving force behind Nissan’s move is the rising price of oil and concommittant high gas prices.
- A second decisive factor is probably the revelations of agrofuels as bad for the climate, bad for the economy and bad for the world’s hungry.
- Nissan will likely begin with smaller vehicles in smaller quantities but eventually introduce EVs in a variety of models.
- For Project Better Place, Renault will supply the vehicles, Nissan will make the lithium-ion batteries and Project Better Place will build the battery switching/recharging stations.

Don't stop thinkin' about tomorrow 'cause it'll soon be here. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
Ghosn, CEO, Nissan: “It’s not only about a small city car or a small minivan. It can also be about a small commercial vehicle and a small crossover…We’re talking about hundreds of vehicles first…We think that cars sold in cities are the obvious first starting point…”