Nissan Partners With NEC To Mass Produce Lithium-Ion Batteries

May 10, 2008 9:13 a.m. EST

Tokyo, Japan (AHN) - Nissan Motor Co and NEC Corp is investing $194 million to mass produce lithium-ion car batteries, according to reports Saturday.

Automotive Energy Supply Corp. (AESC), the Nissan-NEC joint venture set up in April 2007, will be running the world's first mass production of lithium-ion car batteries for electric and hybrid cars at a plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, according to reports by the Nikkei business daily on Saturday.

The Nikkei said AESC targets to make 10,000 lithium-ion batteries in the first few months of operations, but eventually reach an output of 60,000 units.

Lithium-ion batteries, normally used to power mobile phones, are smaller and lighter than the nickel-metal hydride batteries currently used in hybrid and electric cars.

The newspaper said that by using next-generation batteries into its green autos, Nissan hopes to advance in the "green vehicle"race - where it lags behind Toyota and Honda Motor Co.

AESC will reportedly ship the batteries off to Nissan as well as its French partner, Renault SA. The two car makers are planning to market electric and hybrid cards in Japan and the U.S. starting by 2010.