In the latest announcement about its carbon neutral goal for 2050, Nissan said that 100％ of its all-new vehicle offerings in key markets willt be electrified by the early 2030s.
This is probably one of the weakest strategic goals that we have heard recently. It's almost unbelievable that 10 years ago the Japanese company was at the forefront of electrification with the Nissan LEAF, which sold over 500,000 copies (cumulatively).
Let's just point it out: by the early 2030s (more than 10 years from now), 100% of all-new models (so not necessarily all models, but only the latest), will be electrified (which does not necessarily mean plug-ins), but only in key markets (Japan, China, U.S. and Europe).
"Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has set the goal to achieve carbon neutrality across the company’s operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050. As part of this effort, by the early 2030s every all-new Nissan vehicle offering in key markets will be electrified."
This is a very disappointing goal, far below what many other manufacturers announced, and especially now when plug-ins are taking-off!
Nissan pointed out solid-state batteries and e-Power electrified powertrains (series-hybrids, without plug-in capability) among strategic areas:
Nissan will pursue further innovations in electrification and manufacturing technology to make progress on the company’s carbon neutrality goal in the following strategic areas:
- Battery innovations including solid-state and related technologies to develop cost-competitive and more efficient electric vehicles;
- Further development of Nissan’s e-POWER electrified powertrains to achieve greater energy efficiency;
- Development of a battery ecosystem to support decentralized, onsite power generation for buildings with renewable energy sources. Nissan anticipates increased collaboration with the energy sector to support the decarbonization of power grids;
- Manufacturing process innovations to support higher productivity in vehicle assembly, starting with the Nissan Intelligent Factory initiative. The company will also strive for greater energy and material efficiencies to support longer-term carbon neutrality ambitions.
Overall, it seems that Nissan's electrification drifted towards hybrids, e-Power series-hybrids to be precise. It's not all bad, because those hybrids might be a great replacement for conventional ICE models, but what about upcoming BEVs?
Hopefully, it will not be solely the Nissan Ariya, surrounded by e-Power hybrids.
See also