Nissan to set up electric vehicle battery plants in Japan, UK

Nissan Motor is set to partner with China-based battery maker Envision AESC group for building new battery plants for electric vehicles in Japan and United Kingdom and will invest more than 200 billion yen ($1.82 billion), Nikkei reported on Friday.

The Japanese automaker will start turning out batteries in two new plants as early as 2024, aiming for a total capacity sufficient to power 700,000 EVs annually, the report said.

Nissan spokeswoman said the automaker will continue to accelerate electrification toward carbon neutrality, however, there are no further plans to announce at this time.

Batteries are one of the costliest components of EVs as raw materials represent the largest part of the cost.

To save costs, the Japanese automaker’s alliance partner Renault CEO Luca de Meo said this month the two companies are in discussions to collaborate more by using the same battery technology.