Transportation | June 22, 2009 |
Nissan to Build Massive Electric Car Factory in US
By Andrew WilliamsNissan has announced plans to launch the large-scale production of electric cars and batteries in the United States, with a massive 50 billion Yen ($516 million) facility in Smyrna, Tennessee.
The site will be capable of knocking-out an impressive 50,000 to 100,000 EVs by 2012, with investment possibly DOUBLING to 100 billion Yen (more than $1 Billion).
The Japanese outfit, fast becoming a forerunner in the race to the mass roll-out of EVs worldwide, aims to tap into low-interest loans for the production of greener vehicles as part of the US government’s package to support the auto industry.
The first model produced at the new plant is expected to be a small passenger car.
Nissan also plans to build a high-capacity lithium ion battery production facility at the Smyrna site in partnership with fellow Japanese company NEC Corp.
Reprinted with permission from Transportation | Comment | RATE IT
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Good for Nissan!
Besides ramping up EV's and their acceptance by the larger potential buying populace, some people will get jobs they might otherwise not have.
Our domestic auto industry faces political and social constraints foreign ones don't, or don't to the same degree, at least. It's a tough (I'd say impossible) sell to simply say, "Head South, young man! Abandon Detroit!"
And we *shouldn't* abandon that fabled, if now-suffering, city.
But maybe with the Nissan's of the world continuing to show the way, the domestic industry can undergo a slow transformation to help put it back right up there in the front ranks.
I don't mean the simplistic (not to mention nationalistic and maybe racist) arguments I've heard from a few "Sure! Let the Japs forge the way -- then kick them out once our companies are strong again!"
I mean for us to realize the contraints our domestic auto makers face and to support them as they try to move up alongside their foreign competitors.
Whatever technology wins out in the end, it almost certainly won't be a carbon fuel-based one, not based on the current body of scientific knowledge, anyway, including technology in addition to the pure science. Maybe if someone figures out a cheap, clean way to convert an abundant resource -- seawater, say -- to "clean oil" (the "clean" part a huge challenge in itself), a la "water to wine," but I won't be holding my breath for that to happen.
EV's, particularly if they can harness the energy of the Sun plus utilize efficient, affordable, environmentally-acceptable batteries or capacitors for when the Sun's not shining, seem the most promising of current possibilities.
I live in Bangkok, where having a car is something of an exercise in futility, given the fabled traffic jams here. And I've not owned a car since I moved here a little over 15 years ago. But if small EV's become a reality at an affordable price and are available here, I well may buy one, partly just to support the industry in my own tiny way.
Nissan -- don't blow it. And oh, by the way, if you folks make a gazillion dollars (or yen, in your case) -- great, as long as your consumers are getting value for money.
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