Nissan Teams Up With SK On For EV Battery Development For US Market

Nissan Sakura (sourced: Nissan Global)

JAKARTA - An automotive manufacturer from Japan, Nissan, plans to build batteries for EVs sold to the United States (US) market through a South Korean company, SK On starting around 2028 and beyond.

Launching from Nikkei Asia, Saturday, January 25, this step was taken aimed at improving the electric vehicle business as part of the planned subject changes.

The automotive manufacturer agrees with SK On to approve the supply of lithium ternary batteries with a capacity of up to 20 GWh or equivalent to around 300,000 standard EV units at this time.

This is also in line with what was said by Nissan's Vice President, Hideyuki Sakamoto, who said his party was considering manufacturing compact electric vehicles at his factory in the Kyushu region, Japan.

Kyushu's area is also a very geopolitical competitive base, so we want to take advantage of it, Sakamoto said.

The manufacturer is considering moving production to the Kyushu plant starting in 2028. The facility can produce as many as 500,000 units of vehicles.

It is estimated that Nissan will use 80 percent of the factory's capacity in that period to build this Kei Car EV by diverting Rogue model production to other production lines.

It is hoped that this will continue the trend of Sakura as Japan's best-selling EV model by 2023 with a share of 42 percent. Its sales have reached nearly 64,000 units since its introduction in 2022.

Having a small size, Sakura gained high popularity in the rising sun. Its small size is very suitable to break through narrow roads in various densely populated areas.