The Japanese car giant has announced technology intended to make its electric vehicles cheaper to build – and allow its hybrids to reach ‘price parity’ with petrol cars by 2026.
Nissan claims its own technological advancements will see its electric vehicles achieve ‘price parity’ with petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.
The Japanese car maker also believes its e-Power hybrid technology – which uses an on-board petrol engine as a generator for electric motors driving the wheels – will achieve parity with petrol-only cars by 2026.
Today, Nissan charges an extra $4200 for e-Power technology on its X-Trail family SUV – while electric cars from most brands are often about 50 per cent more expensive than equivalent petrol cars.
Nissan powertrain engineering director Akihiro Shibuya explained in a briefing to media the company plans to share components between its hybrid and electric cars to reduce prices.
“There are three key approaches to pursuing the ultimate cost levelling and expedite electrification globally. They are the commonisation of parts, modularisation of parts, and evolution of the core technology, like rare earth metal reduction and higher output/density”.
“When you have an [electric motor] assisting the engine, it is difficult to make common parts between it and an electric vehicle.
“When it comes to Nissan’s e-Power hybrid … it requires a specification that uses lots of common core parts with electric vehicles [as the electric motor is the sole source of propulsion for the wheels, like a purely-electric car].”
Another cost-saving strategy is to reduce the amount of rare earth metals used in the various magnets required to build an electric vehicle’s motor and battery.
The brand claims that since 2019 it has already reduced the price of its electric motors by 30 per cent.
Nissan was one of the pioneers of mass-market electric cars – launching the Nissan Leaf hatchback in 2010 – however in the years since it has lost its lead to other car makers from Europe and South Korea, which offer broader electric-car line-ups.
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