Tesla Should Be Worried About Nissan
They have technology that could crush Musk's pride and joy.
Tesla has been the de facto king of the EV industry for over a decade, but it wasn’t always this way. Before the Model S gained global notoriety, the best-selling EV on the planet was the Nissan Leaf, and for a time, it seemed the Japanese company would lead the EV movement. Since then, Nissan has fallen behind, not just in the EV sector but in the entire automotive world too, as its line of lacklustre models seemed outdated and horrifically built compared to the rest of the industry. A far cry from its goliath-beating reputation of the 80s and 90s. Well, it seems Nissan is gearing up to strike back and reclaim its spot at the pinnacle of the automotive and EV industry with some truly revolutionary technology that not even Musk can compete with. Let me explain.
This all started in 2021 when Nissan unveiled its “Ambition 2030” vision. This laid out a roadmap to take Nissan back to its dizzying heights. The plans included launching 15 new pure electric vehicles, from superminis to family SUVs, sport convertibles, vans and even a pickup truck. These vehicles will all share the same underlying architecture and adopt the latest manufacturing technology, such as gigacasting (which Tesla didn’t invent), to reduce production costs by 30% and get these vehicles on cost parity with combustion vehicles. Now, this is great news, but it is hardly revolutionary, as almost every major EV manufacturer is doing the same thing. What sets Nissan apart is how they plan to power these EVs. You see, Nissan wants to develop and manufacture its own solid-state batteries by 2028, giving its EVs far longer ranges, way quicker charge rates, and even substantially lower costs than anything else on the market.
Now, not everybody believes Nissan can achieve this. After all, manufacturing solid-state batteries is notoriously difficult. While, in theory, they can be lighter, faster charging, and cheaper than the cells we use today, no one has come close to this in the real world despite throwing serious amounts of R&D time and money at the problem.
But Nissan wasn’t making some half-baked promise. They also announced they would set up a prototype production facility, which was completed in 2021, and in 2024, take the lessons from this and establish a pilot production line at its Yokohama Plant.
Well, it’s now 2024, and Nissan recently announced that the prototype facility has completed its job, and they had already set up pilot lines in the Yokohama Plant. A few tweaks were needed, which set the project back a bit. But nonetheless, in this recent announcement, Nissan confirmed they are on track to roll out EVs with their solid-state batteries by 2029!
That’s only five years away. For some context, Tesla’s Cybetruck was announced nearly five years ago, so 2029 is actually not that far away.
Now for the big reveal. Nissan’s specs for these solid-state batteries are insane!
Nissan has stated these batteries will be twice as energy-dense as the cells we use today and cost only $65 per kWh once production has scaled. That is half the price of lithium-ion batteries today! Not only that, but these battery packs are capable of achieving charge rates of 400 kW. This means a 75kWh battery pack using these cells could recharge from 10% to 80% in 10 minutes!
This means that in 2029, Nissan can fit an EV with a 150 kWh battery pack that costs the same, weighs the same, and takes up the same volume as today’s 75 kWh battery packs (which can be found in cars like the Model 3 LR and Model Y LR). This hypothetical EV could do over 600 miles per charge, and only take 20 minutes to rapid charge to 80% from 10%.
How can Tesla compete with that? Why would you buy a $40,000+ Model 3 LR when Nissan can sell you a 600+ mile beast for the same money? Let’s not forget that Nissan is also adopting the same cost-cutting manufacturing techniques as Tesla, so this scenario is far from unrealistic. Meanwhile, Tesla is still struggling with its “revolutionary” 4680 battery and increasingly has to turn to third-party manufacturers, as their offerings are better and cheaper. Coincidently, no other third-party company has anything like Nissan’s solid-state battery apart from Toyota, and neither Nissan nor Toyota plans to sell their batteries to other companies.
So, should Musk worry about Nissan? Hell yes he should! They are on course to technologically leapfrog Tesla by a country mile in the not-so-distant future, and Tesla simply hasn’t got enough time to catch up.
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Sources: Nissan, The Driven, Reuters, EV In Focus, Will Lockett