The ‘4R’ deal between Nissan and Sumitomo Corporation to reuse, resell, refabricate and recycle lithium-ion batteries previously used in electric cars has been described as the “last piece in the jigsaw” in the move towards affordable zero emission vehicles.
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Speaking at the Tokyo show, Andy Palmer, Nissan’s British senior vice-president responsible for zero emission vehicles, said: “This will bring down the cost of our electric vehicles, making them price comparable with equivalent high specification petrol or diesel models.”
Nissan plans to lease batteries to buyers of the four electric vehicle models it is rolling out over the next few years.
Palmer said: “The key point about leasing is residual value. If you have a customer for the battery after it has been used in the car, then the residual value is better and the total cost of ownership lower.
“It removes ones of the barriers of entry to EVs – cost.”
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By GlobalDataNissan and Sumitomo plan to give lithium-ion batteries powering EVs a ‘second-life’ as energy-storage systems worldwide.
The ‘4R’ business model (resell, reuse, refabricate and recycle) is designed to capitalise on the supply of reusable lithium-ion batteries. Currently there is no existing supply of large-capacity reusable batteries but Palmer said there would be growing demand for “reusing batteries.
He described the venture with Sumitomo as “one of the biggest breakthroughs ever” for Nissan. He added: “There is a real shortage of battery energy storage which can be used to balance the draw on national grids at peak times. We are talking to all the utilities worldwide about this.”
Even after the end of normal vehicle life, the high performance lithium-ion batteries will retain 70% to 80% of residual capacity and can be reused and resold.
Palmer said that the 4R plan was another step in Nissan’s so-called Blue Citizenship programme. “Our over-arching mind-set to the way we approach our vehicle business. To be a leader in environmentally friendly technology through lower emission petrol engines, clean diesels, bio-fuels, hybrids and EVs. It’s about being a good citizen of the world.”
He added that another technology, hydrogen fuel cells, will come but not yet. “The technology is available but it is still not commercially viable to mass market. We will continue with the development.”
At the moment, the roll out of electric vehicles, starting with the Leaf next year, is uppermost in Palmer’s mind. He said: “There are still issues and concerns to address in terms of range anxiety (how far the vehicle will go before it needs re-charging) and the re-charging infrastructure.
“The Leaf will have a range of 100 miles and we are working on third generation batteries to extend that further. We are also talking constantly to utilities and governments about the re-charging infrastructure although we believe that customers will charge their cars mainly at home.”
Unlike alliance partner Renault, which plans to have fast-battery swap stations, to replace a discharged battery with a full one, Palmer says this technology does not plan to follow this route.
Nissan’s plan is to mass market EVs by 2012 and to have 10% of its entire vehicle fleet powered by electric motors by 2020. Palmer admitted that there is a risk to the strategy in persuading consumers to buy the cars.
“Of course there is a risk but I have been in the automotive industry for 30 years and we have constantly been hounded as polluters.
“Now we are doing something about it – any leader has to take risks and we think it is manageable. We will certainly not go bankrupt if it goes terribly wrong and in the discussions we have had with outside agencies such as utilities and governments there is a passion about making EVs work. We aim to have EVs as 10% of our fleet in 10 years, but remember, the other 90% will still be powered by internal combustion engines.
“The infrastructure will be put in place and governments are promising incentives to manufacturers and consumers alike.
Leaf will be rolled out in Japan and the US next year with Europe following in 2012. The initial 50,000 a year battery production will come out of Japan although Nissan plans further production facilities in the US, Portugal and the UK by 2012 or 2013 taking total production capacity to around 350,000 a year “which is where we need to be to be viable,” according to Palmer.
“That will be a pivotal point in terms of mass market – we can’t predict how long incentives from governments will last.”
One technicality still under discussion, he said, was zero noise as well as zero emissions. There were concerns over the potential danger of silent vehicles – you can’t hear them coming.
Palmer added: “It seems there might have to be some sort of noise or indication although we have not decided what that would be. As well as alerting pedestrians, the driver needs to know when the power is on – there is no audible clue.
“There are all sort of interesting issues. How much noise or what sort. There is also legislation to consider – can you have legislation to allow to vehicles to add noise?”
