Nissan Unveils Prototype Production Facility For Solid-State Batteries

Nissan unveiled today its prototype production facility for laminated all-solid-state battery (ASSB) cells. The facility is located within the Nissan Research Center in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

The Japanese company announced in-house development of solid-state batteries in November 2021 with a plan to start pilot production at its Yokohama Plant in fiscal 2024 and launch the first EV powered by the new batteries by fiscal 2028.

The prototype production line is a major step toward commercialization of those next-generation batteries, which according to Nissan, are expected to offer an energy density approximately twice that of conventional lithium-ion batteries, significantly shorter charging time due to superior charge/discharge performance, and lower cost thanks to the opportunity of using less expensive materials.

Nissan has engaged in lithium-ion battery development for a very long time (over 20 years) and, as we understand, the company intends to continue its in-house approach also with the solid-state batteries.

As we can see, the physical form factor is similar to conventional cells currently used by the company – laminated cells.

By the way of presenting the prototype production facility, Nissan has repeated its very ambitious targets to achieve a cost of $75 per kWh in fiscal 2028 and $65 per kWh thereafter (on the pack level).

In effect, electric vehicle costs should be reduced to the same level as gasoline-powered vehicles, Nissan explains.

Kunio Nakaguro, executive vice president in charge of R&D, said:

“Nissan has been a leader in electrification technology through a wide range of R&D activities, from molecular-level battery material research to the development of safe, high-performance EVs. Our initiatives even include city development using EVs as storage batteries.

“The knowledge gained from our experience supports the development of all-solid-state batteries and we’ve accumulated important elemental technologies. Going forward, our R&D and manufacturing divisions will continue to work together to utilize this prototype production facility and accelerate the practical application of all-solid-state batteries.”

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Nissan battery technology targets in brief:

• Nissan intends to introduce cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries to bring down the cost by 65% by fiscal year 2028 (by the end of March 2029)
• Nissan intends to launch electric vehicle with “its proprietary all-solid-state batteries (ASSB)” by fiscal year 2028 (by the end of March 2029)
  a pilot plant in Yokohama should be ready as early as fiscal year 2024
• all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) target cost:
  $75 per kWh on the pack level by fiscal year 2028
  potential to achieve $65/kWh on the pack level
• global battery supply targets:
  52 GWh by by fiscal year 2026 (by the end of March 2027)
  130 GWh by fiscal year 2030 (by the end of March 2031)
• EV36Zero (EV hub concept) fully integrated manufacturing to spread globally: Europe (UK), Japan, China and in the U.S.