Nissan wants to lower EV prices with cheaper LFP batteries to rival BYD
Nissan plans to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries as it looks to lower EV prices. With cheaper materials, the batteries are about 20% to 30% cheaper to build than lithium-ion batteries with NCM. The move will put it in direct competition with BYD, the leading LFP battery maker.
Nissan is developing LFP batteries to lower EV prices
Although Nissan was topped by China’s BYD in passenger vehicle sales in November, the automaker has a plan to regain its share.
According to a new report from Nikkei, Nissan plans to begin installing cheaper LFP batteries in electric vehicles. The EVs will be sold in emerging markets as early as 2026, according to the report.
Although LFP batteries are up to 30% cheaper to produce than lithium batteries with nickel, cobalt, and manganese (NCM), they also have less energy density.
LFP batteries have about 20% to 30% less driving range than NCM. However, that could be suitable in current regions. Nissan is currently developing the new battery tech at its R&D facility in Japan. The report mentions Nissan may build the LFP batteries in-house at its Yokohama plant, among other facilities.
Nissan expects the new batteries to be used in EVs as early as 2026. It’s currently looking for partners to advance the tech and could import from outside the company.
According to data from the China Automotive Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, BYD dominated the LFP battery market with a 41.1% market share through last November. Rival CATL was second with 33.9% of the share.
BYD’s Blade Battery is equipped on EVs being sold globally. The electric BYD Seal with BYD Blade has claimed range of up to 435 miles (700 km). BYD launched the electric sedan in Mexico last month, starting at $44,600 (778,800 pesos).
BYD’s Blade Battery played a key role in topping Tesla to become the global EV sales leader in the last three months of the year. The Chinese automaker sold nearly 1.6 million EVs last year as it expands into new overseas markets. Nissan could take a page from BYD.
Electrek’s Take
Although it took over a decade for Nissan to release its second EV, the Ariya, after the LEAF hit the market in 2010, Nissan looks to make up for lost time.
Nissan is already behind EV leaders like Tesla and BYD, but the automaker wants to get back on track.
Nissan’s CEO, Makota Uchidam, said the company needs to clean out the closet if it wants to remain competitive.
As part of its midterm update, the automaker is preparing to reveal a new EV plan to right the ship. Uchida said, “We cannot continue old ways of business from the past into the future.” The new strategy, expected to be introduced in March, will address how Nissan plans to compete with low-cost models from China.
Nissan said it will launch 19 new EVs by 2030, but that could change with a new strategy coming. Although Ariya sales (and production) are picking up, cheaper options could help Nissan regain competitiveness.
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Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility just launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”
Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.
“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.
The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I’ve asked for more details.)
Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)
Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.
The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.
To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.
Read more: Mercedes-Benz just opened more DC fast chargers at Buc-ee’s in Texas
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Is Toyota catching up in the US electric vehicle market? Although Toyota’s US boss, Ted Ogawa, admits it’s behind Tesla, he believes the company is “catching up” on electric vehicles and new tech.
Toyota has been among the biggest laggards in shifting to fully electric vehicles. After a rocky start (including a recall) with the launch of its first EV in the US, the bZ4X, Toyota has failed to gain traction in the market.
Of the over 2.2 million Toyota vehicles sold in the US last year, only 9,329 were all-electric, or less than 0.5%.
The trend has continued this year, with only 1,897 bZ4X models sold through March. That’s less than 0.4% of the over 486,000 Toyota vehicles sold in Q1.
Ogawa says Toyota is watching customer demand for EVs rather than regulations. “However, the BEV was our missing piece two years ago, so that’s why we were very much criticized,” Ogawa explained in a new interview with Automotive News.
After building internally over the past two years, Toyota’s US boss believes the company is “catching up” on electric vehicles and new tech.
Is Toyota catching up on electric vehicles?
For example, Ogawa said that Toyota headquarters is building a “very exclusive factory” for EVs.
The new “BEV Factory” will feature several new technologies new to Toyota. The company showed off its next-gen EV production line last year with Giga casting, a process made popular by Tesla.
Toyota says its “wealth of knowledge” about molds will help speed up production. The company believes it can reduce the lead time for changing molds to around 20 minutes compared to 24 hours.
Other tech like self-propelled assembly lines and robots are promised to enhance efficiency while minimizing defects.
Toyota also revealed new EV battery plans last summer, including two next-gen batteries due out by 2027. The first “Performance” battery is promised to feature over 800 km (497 miles) range while cutting costs by 20% compared to the bZ4X.
Meanwhile, the “Popularisation” version, due out in 2026-2027, is expected to feature over 600 km (372 miles) range at 40% lower costs.
Further out (2027-2030), Toyota plans to launch a series of “further evolution” batteries, including solid-state batteries with over 1,000 km (621 mi) range and 10-min fast charge.
Ogawa believes “this is kind of the starting year of the real multipath way, like the hybrid, which we already have, and then plug-in, something between hybrid and BEV, and then BEV, which it is time to introduce to the market.”
Although Toyota is “of course” behind Tesla’s battery tech, according to Ogawa, the company is “catching up.” Ogawa said Toyota is not only catching up on EVs but “also the ecosystem surrounding the BEV area, such as the home charging or energy management.”
Electrek’s Take
Is Toyota really catching up this time? We’ve heard this several times in the past from executives.
With EVs accounting for less than 0.4% of sales in the US, Toyota will need to do more to prove it. Toyota planned to launch solid-state EV batteries in 2021 and 2022, but now we are not expected to see them hit the market until around 2028 (at the earliest).
Other tech, like Giga casting and automated production, will help improve efficiency, but new EVs are not expected to debut until 2026.
Toyota has made several investments recently to boost US production, including a $1.4 billion investment in Indiana to build a new electric SUV, separate from its promised three-row EV model.
Can new models and tech help Toyota catch up in the electric vehicle market this time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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